Endgame introduce the MCU’s subsequent large villain?

Note: Contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.

Topping final 12 months’s Avengers: Infinity War was by no means going to be straightforward, however taking it of their stride, Joe and Anthony Russo rounded off the primary 11 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and put the wheels in movement for what comes subsequent in Avengers: Endgame.

As followers frantically looked for clues of who (or what) is coming in Phase 4, the Russos may need hidden the franchise’s subsequent large dangerous proper in entrance of everybody’s eyes.

Stop right here when you aren’t prepared for spoilers.

Marvel Studios

While Sam Wilson appears set to be the subsequent Captain America, Thor will be part of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Steve Rogers might have simply opened up the Marvel Multiverse, one in every of Endgame‘s seemingly throwaway traces may need teased the arrival of Namor the Sub-Mariner.

Namor is mainly Marvel’s model of Aquaman and has a posh historical past with the comedian e book powerhouse – making him good to go well with up for the world’s highest-grossing franchise. Unlike Aquaman, he has served as a villain as usually as a hero, an underwater monarch plotting towards the floor world.

But how did he presumably sneak himself into Endgame?

Marvel Comics

Following the five-year time bounce because the surviving Avengers tried to get on with their lives in a post-snap world, their decimated ranks continued to guard the cosmos from numerous threats.

As Carol Danvers watched from afar, Danai Gurira’s Okoye talked about an underwater earthquake off the coast of Africa. Although Black Widow needed to know the way Wakanda deliberate on tackling this unusual phenomenon, Okoye defined that they had been merely going to depart it alone.

It’s additionally vital to recollect the dialog that comes immediately after Okoye’s tease is between Cap and Romanoff discussing whales within the Hudson River. Two nautical references straight after one another appears just a little too handy – understanding how the MCU likes to weave upcoming tales into its complicated scripts, there could possibly be extra to the story.

With Namor’s debut in 1939, he is extensively thought to be ‘Marvel’s first mutant’, once more giving a segue for the MCU to introduce the X-Men to its increasing roster. Elsewhere, Namor’s different previous has seen him serve in groups together with the Defenders and the Avengers, whereas additionally being an occasional enemy to the likes of the Fantastic Four.

Marvel Comics

This may not even be the primary reference to Namor within the MCU. Way again in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2, there gave the impression to be a refined reference to the Sub-Mariner.

When Nick Fury met with Tony Stark to debate his place on the Avengers, Fury was surveying a big SHIELD map that marked a number of factors of curiosity the shady organisation was monitoring. Since 2010, followers have theorised that the marker in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean was a nod to Namor’s underwater kingdom, Atlantis.

More not too long ago, there have been ripples about Sub-Mariner. Earlier this 12 months, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson tweeted (after which deleted) a picture of Namor.

Disney’s current acquisition of 20th Century Fox has already promised that the X-Men and Fantastic Four will (finally) go well with up alongside the Avengers, however Namor’s debut could possibly be a case of sooner fairly than later.

Considering the rights to Namor apparently reverted from Universal to Marvel in 2016, it is possible that he is been on the studio’s sonar for some time now. That being mentioned, Kevin Feige informed IGN in 2018 that Namor’s rights are “complicated”, which could put him in the identical boat because the Incredible Hulk, who can seem in MCU movies however cannot star in a solo film of his personal.

But even when Disney cannot transfer forward with a Sub-Mariner standalone, he might simply make a cameo in one in every of Phase 4’s upcoming motion pictures – Doctor Strange 2, maybe? Another avenue to discover could be Namor turning up in Black Panther 2 – the…