BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Concept Art Reveals Deleted Scenes And More Ironheart Action

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever concept art by Marvel Studios' Phil Saunders reveals some sequences which didn't make it into the movie, including Namor riding an orca, Ironheart fighting Namora, and more.

By JoshWilding - May 28, 2024 08:05 AM EST

Filed Under: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever finally brought Namor the Submariner into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the character underwent some significant changes, with Atlantis swapped out for Talokan and his origin story rooted in Mayan legend.

While not everyone was happy about that, it went a long way in helping to differentiate Namor from DC's Aquaman.

Thanks to Marvel Studios concept artist Phil Saunders (who has spent the past year working on Disney's Tron: Ares), we have a new look at some sequences which didn't make it into the Black Panther sequel's final cut.

That includes a clash between Ironheart and Namora. "The script originally called for an extended battle between [Riri Williams] and [Namora] that would have taken them underwater," Saunders says. "It was inevitably cut to keep the focus on [Shuri] and [Namor], but gave me the opportunity to paint some dynamic shots."

We also see Namor riding an Orca into battle, an epic visual which eventually became a Funko Pop but didn't make any impact in the movie itself (in fact, we don't recall anything like this being included in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever).

Saunders also explained how he approached creating designs for Namor before Tenoch Huerta was cast. "In early images, I came up with a composite face for Namor before Tenoch Huerta was cast in the role, inspired by a mix of Javier Bardem and Gael Garcia Bernal," the artist reveals. "I tried out just a hint of Namor’s classic widow’s peak to see how far I could go without losing the ethnicity."

It's unclear what the future holds in store for Namor in the MCU. Last June, the actor was hit by a series of serious allegations by saxophonist María Elena Ríos when she accused him of being a "sexual predator."

Nothing seemed to come of that, but even after denying her "false and completely unsubstantiated" claims, Huerta pulled out of Netflix's Fiesta en la Madriguera and hasn't really been heard from since.

Check out this newly revealed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever concept art below.

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A post shared by Phil Saunders (@philjdsaunders)

In the Black Panther sequel, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death.

As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of Talokan, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livinalli.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now streaming on Disney+.

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61 Comments

1 2

Evansly - 5/28/2024, 8:53 AM

Yeah seems like a good call not adding more Iron Heart. She was fine in the movie but definitely don't want to over shadow the main fights and plot

HashTagSwagg - 5/28/2024, 8:54 AM

I prefer Namor without the green crayon up his nose but that one where he's on top of a whale holding a spanking paddle looks kinda gay NGL.

Batmangina - 5/28/2024, 10:01 AM

@HashTagSwagg - You can take KINDA out of it. They should have just had him blowing the whale.

TheFinestSmack - 5/28/2024, 10:06 AM

@HashTagSwagg - I agree, and thank you for not lying about this.

Ryguy88 - 5/28/2024, 10:58 AM

@HashTagSwagg - rEpReSeNtAtIoN mAtTeRs

abd00bie - 5/28/2024, 11:09 AM

@HashTagSwagg - Oh? Show us how to ride a whale properly then

harryba11zack - 5/28/2024, 8:55 AM

Origame - 5/28/2024, 9:04 AM

@harryba11zack - looks like she added a vibrator to her suit.

Which is now something I just assume all these girl boss superheroes add to their suits.

TheFinestSmack - 5/28/2024, 10:10 AM

@Origame - I still think it's funny they chose a movie starring primarily black folks to shoehorn in a character created 100% as a black diversity token.

Origame - 5/28/2024, 10:12 AM

@TheFinestSmack - let's face it, after this last movie black panther as a film franchise is just black diversity tokens.

JonC - 5/28/2024, 12:07 PM

@Origame - so a movie franchise about a black nation is merely full of black diversity tokens?

Origame - 5/28/2024, 12:09 PM

@JonC - "as of the last movie", as in, the last movie just made them out into black diversity tokens.

Notice how I said nothing about the first movie, and specifically worded my response to exclude the first movie from the conversation?

bobevanz - 5/28/2024, 9:02 AM

This movie was so mid compared to the first. I'd say cash grab but they were going to do it anyway

Origame - 5/28/2024, 9:05 AM

@bobevanz - which is even more messed up when you remember it was heavily based around Chadwick boseman's death.

UniqNo - 5/28/2024, 9:10 AM

@bobevanz - * with the passing of Boseman i feel it elevated the movie. The recasting arguement is valid, but they can do it in futue in future and have set that up with the son also being a T'Challa

UniqNo - 5/28/2024, 9:13 AM

@bobevanz - * with the passing of Boseman i feel it elevated the movie and performances given they were all in grief. The recasting arguement is valid, but they can do it in the future and have already set that up with the son also being a T'Challa

Matchesz - 5/28/2024, 9:38 AM

@UniqNo - ah yes, the reason I go to the movies, to grieve… not recasting Chadwick was a misstep

UniqNo - 5/28/2024, 9:45 AM

@Matchesz - Grief's a part of life, and as a whole, the cast performances were alot more elevated from anything else i've seen from an MCU project other than the end of Infinity war and Endgame.

It certainly had me more engaged.

My assumption, if they went along with recasting Chadwick they'd have lost more of the cast and crew, especially Coogler.

Ryguy88 - 5/28/2024, 10:59 AM

@bobevanz - they decided to make the whole thing a tribute and forgot to make a movie

Radders - 5/29/2024, 8:52 AM

@UniqNo - Were you engaged by the movie itself or was it the tragic death of Chadwick that got you engaged?

UniqNo - 5/29/2024, 9:23 AM

@Radders - The movie. But I was already interested in seeing how they were going to handle his death knowing they weren't recasting.

tylerzero - 5/28/2024, 9:02 AM

Allow me to be the very first to say…

…they shoulda recasted.

Izaizaiza - 5/28/2024, 9:02 AM

I got to admit, I think this version of Namor Is my favorite. Gave him an interesting backstory, and differentiated him from Aquaman. I'm glad they didn't include more ironheart. I don't know much about the character, and hope they improve her for the Disney push show... But she was easily the worst part of Black Panther. 2

Ryguy88 - 5/28/2024, 11:00 AM

@Izaizaiza - she has probably been the worst part of anything she has been featured in since her inception.

Izaizaiza - 5/28/2024, 11:13 AM

@Ryguy88 - I have actually never read any of her comics. Bad character all around?

Ryguy88 - 5/28/2024, 11:18 AM

@Izaizaiza - I think she suffers from what most legacy characters do; she was created to take on the role of a previous character as opposed to just being a good character in her own right. I think that Miles Morales is probably the only one that has caught on but thats probably mostly due to the animated movies. Still weird that he just takes on the name Spiderman without differentiating himself from the original at all.

Izaizaiza - 5/28/2024, 11:23 AM

@Ryguy88 - Was Tony Stark gone in the comics? Her character in BP2 was so uninteresting, and, I hate to say, poorly acted.

I would say Miles Morales is a legit interesting character. I thought they handled it pretty well in the comics were where Peter Parker basically gave him permission to use the name. It does seem a bit unnecessarily confusing, though. It wouldn't be a bad character arc if, as he grew older, he decided to create a new persona for himself.

marvel72 - 5/28/2024, 2:12 PM

@Ryguy88 - Miles Morales is Miles Morales,Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

GeneralZod - 5/28/2024, 9:06 AM

Imagine working in Marvel Studios creative and visually destroying one of Marvel Comics' very first (tied with the original Human Torch) superheroes, as was done in BP2 with Namor the Sub-Mariner. For the sake of pushing a box-checking initiative.

Izaizaiza - 5/28/2024, 9:40 AM

@GeneralZod - "Destroying"? This version was great, in my opinion. Kind of makes the original version seem generic

GeneralZod - 5/28/2024, 12:18 PM

@Izaizaiza - "Kind of makes the original version seem generic." Really? Namor the Sub-Mariner, Marvel's oldest character, will have been published for 85 years in 2024. Anti-hero. Villain. Protagonist. King. If anything, one of Marvel's most original characters (and predated Aquaman's creation by two years).

Izaizaiza - 5/28/2024, 1:30 PM

@GeneralZod - Yes, that guy! Don't get me wrong, I love Namor, but he has never felt completely fleshed out, and generally operated better as a foil for other characters. I realize he was created before Aquaman, but the Aquaman film had just come out, so it was really important to differentiate him from AM. I thought his new backstory added a lot of interest to the character, and gave him motivation besides "He's an arrogant king, pissed off about human's spoiling the environment". I also acknowledge that I haven't read every Namor comic (although I have read a lot), and perhaps I missed some that gave him more depth, and provided another viable path.

JobinJ - 5/28/2024, 9:11 AM

Is there a way that we could have less Iron Shart action?

leethario - 5/29/2024, 3:06 AM

@JobinJ - you just know her show is going to be awful, Echo levels of awful, let's see.

JobinJ - 5/28/2024, 9:12 AM

Iron Heart, the “superhero” that blew up a few cops just trying to do their job.

Fogs - 5/28/2024, 9:41 AM

Such a mid film.

marvel72 - 5/28/2024, 9:49 AM

Namor concept art looks more like the comic book character.

No wonder Disney Marvel choose to change it to the crappy movie design.

SuperCat - 5/28/2024, 10:07 AM

"Mid" is too kind. It simply sucked.

Origame - 5/28/2024, 12:12 PM

@SuperCat - I prefer what the little platoon called him:

"Freaky fish guy"

SuperCat - 5/28/2024, 12:27 PM

@Origame - LMAO!!!!!

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