It's unclear how Marvel Studios intends to bring Atlantis to life in the MCU, though we do know that this version of the undersea nation will be heavily inspired by Aztec history. Whether those who call the fictional city home will inhabit it through visual effects or in a massive water tank remains to be seen, but Namor the Submariner himself couldn't actually swim when he was first cast!
Talking to Spanish-language publication Life and Style, actor Tenoch Huerta confessed that he had to tell a small white lie when he was being eyed for the role of Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Asked if he could swim, "I replied that I had never drowned and went back to my managers."
Realising he had potentially committed to a role that would require him to get in the water, Huerta says, "Of course, I didn't say anything then, because they weren't going to give me the role. We had to explain to them through my lawyer in the United States that this is how we Mexicans are. We never say no."
Eight months of swimming lessons eventually paid off, but that wasn't the only way Marvel Studios was willing to work with the actor. "In the film, there is a Mesoamerican inspiration, based on the research of a team made up of people from different professional fields," Huerta explains. "They consider you a collaborator and have always been very open to my comments and proposals to improve the character."
"I can say that they listened to 90 percent of my notes and proposals, in addition to the fact that from the beginning I made it clear to them what my convictions and my struggles were off the screen."
Huerta's passion for Namor, despite his initial inability to swim, is clear. While some fans are unsure about the changes being made to the character in the MCU, connecting him to a real-life culture feels like a clever way to make him more relevant than if he were portrayed as little more than a slightly more refined Aquaman.
We just hope there's a big future for this character and he's not just a one-and-done villain in the Black Panther sequel.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theaters on November 11, later this year!