Among the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s foremost achievements is its sustained track-record of successfully catering toward fan-demand, and with the continuous stream of top-notch fanart producing yet another gem, they might need to perk up their ears once again.
This week, doing the rounds of the internet has been a fan-made concept artwork of Keanu Reeves as Namor the Sub-Mariner, right at the time of speculation that the Atlantean might be Marvel’s newest marquee unveiling, based on hints dropped in a recent cinematic outing.
The franchise’s latest installment, Avengers: Endgame, is no stranger to anyone. The film broke a litany of box-office records and, in the process, became the second-highest-grossing film of all time, while also laying some seeds that could become the bedrock upon which the MCU builds in the future.
One such reference came quite early in the film.
After Thor exacts his revenge upon Thanos and the audience is subjected to a jarring 5-year time skip, we see Black Widow conducting a mission-report briefing with some of the Avengers spread, quite literally, across the universe. It’s at this time that Okoye mentions a series of tectonic disturbances that she describes as ‘underwater earthquakes.’
While, on the surface, it might seem a stretch to deem this a reference to Namor, the signs are there. The MCU certainly doesn’t ever throw vagueries into the mix without reason, and add to this the fact that the Atlantis-bound Namor remains one of the few Golden Age Marvel characters yet to make his on-screen debut, things start seeming a bit more plausible.
Of course, there have also been recent rumors that Namor might be the villain for the upcoming Black Panther 2, although the issue of cinematic rights makes it slightly difficult. This is because Namor was one of the few characters, along with the likes of Hulk, that was sold to Universal Pictures, and is now one of even fewer that remains there, meaning that bringing him over to the MCU would first necessitate a negotiation tete-a-tete.
Nonetheless, with the MCU’s mercurial success in recent years bringing the likes of Kevin Feige significant negotiating power, it’s not far-fetched to believe that Namor, and Keanu Reeves, might be making their Marvel debut soon.