Superhero movies dominate the modern cinema industry. Marvel Cinematic Studios boasts many box office records and (at the time of writing this article) has 20 films released with a very wide range of characters. From their first movie “Iron Man” to their latest “Captain Marvel,” Marvel Studios has many characters out, but there are even more characters that have yet to debut on the big screen. Of all the heroes that deserve their own movies within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Namor the Sub-Mariner deserves it the most.

Namor was one of Marvel’s first characters, debuting in the comic scene in April 1939, seven months before the first official Marvel comic. Namor did not initially start as a Marvel character, but since his conception, he has been a staple of the comic giant.

The recent success of DC’s “Aquaman” proves that such a character can do well in Hollywood.  The 2018 movie gained $333,200,079 in the box office as of Feb. 28. This number is significantly higher than a large amount of box office earnings for Marvel movies.

Namor is a possibly the most notable inspiration for Aquaman in the first place, as he debuted two years prior to Aquaman. “Aquaman”’s popularity has increased over its time in the theaters, so it is reasonable to think that a similar movie done by the more successful studio would be even more successful.

Other than success, right now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be a very good spot to introduce Namor as a new character. After “Avengers: Endgame” is released in April, many moviegoers will still be in their seats long after the problem is resolved just to see what happens in the long-awaited post-credit scene. Marvel is notorious for using these scenes to introduce new characters.

The antagonist of the “Infinity War/Endgame” duo, Thanos, spent years just in post credit scenes and was arguably one of the most anticipated villains in the entire cinematic universe. Usually, these hints are very subtle, unlike the introduction of Captain Marvel in 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War.” Namor could have a great introduction into the universe either in the next “Avengers” movie, or the “Captain Marvel” post-credit scene.

It is possible that we may see Namor in the next “Avengers” installation.  Due to the snap that occurred in “Infinity War,” we may see an angry Namor in search of answers as to why half of Atlantis has disintegrated.

Introducing Namor would also be a good movement for Marvel Studios to continue their universe with the recently acquired “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” rights with Disney’s purchase of Fox in 2017. This ties in with Namor because he has been repeatedly dubbed “the first mutant” in Marvel Comics, and mutants are the center of the “X-Men” universe.

Namor was also involved with the Fantastic Four early on in both of their comic series, and with many crossover comic books released, it almost would not make sense to have Namor without Reed Richards, Susan Storm, The Thing and Johnny Storm. With these characters, the MCU would be able to put the famed fictional organization, the Illuminati, on screen.

Just introducing the Fantastic Four and X-Men would be welcomed by the audience, but it would be difficult to do any of it out of nowhere considering where the studio is now. Namor would be the perfect character to introduce and have the rest eased in.

photo courtesy Hollywood Reporter