Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta fueled suspicions of his (heavily rumored) involvement in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — and his amphibious role, which remains ambiguous — on Instagram.
Huerta posted an image of a commemorative bust of Benito Juárez, the first Mexican president of Indigenous origin. He indicated in the caption that he had found the statue in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, which is curious, given that the Black Panther sequel just-so-happens to be filming scenes on the Caribbean island.
It could merely be a coincidence, but the Narcos: Mexico alum’s self-disclosed sighting in Puerto Rico is feeding fish-food to fan theories on the emergence of Namor the Sub-Mariner’s undersea realm, Atlantis, in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Namor McKenzie is Marvel’s answer to Aquaman, but the maritime human and mutant hybrid is less of a clear-cut Good Guy than his aquatic DC Comics counterpart. Sometimes, the hero fought alongside the Avengers; sometimes, the villain fought against the Fantastic Four. Conflict-prone and arrogant, anti-hero Namor does whatever he wants, always swimming in a grey moral area. Namor and T’Challa have always been rivals, and at one point in the comics, throughout their enduring standoff, Namor flooded Wakanda, which wound up sparking a battle between the two kingdoms.
Last August, Mexican actor Mabel Cadena, who may or may not be playing Namor’s cousin, Namora, posted pics of herself in Atlanta right when Black Panther 2 was filming scenes. Cadena’s rumored involvement was also particularly intriguing given that some of the sequel’s scenes are set to take place in a “rural Mexican village.” Again, coincidences happen, but they tend to happen less under the grip of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s puppeteers and their need to keep details as discreet as possible until the debut of a project.
The Inverse Analysis — Despite Marvel’s shroud of secrecy over the long-awaited Black Panther sequel, rumors have persisted that Atlantis will soon be introduced in the MCU. The signs aren’t just on Instagram. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness lists actress Yenifer Molina as Gargantos, a giant-octopus henchman to one of Namor’s rivals, and Okoye (Danai Gurira) reports from Wakanda that they are “handling” underwater earthquakes in Avengers: Endgame.
As the investigative Marvel-verse hounds of Reddit and beyond have found, nothing is certain in the MCU until the company pulls the curtain— or the truth leaks.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in theaters on November 11, 2022.
