'We are here now': Namor's Mayan-inspired kingdom is new foe in 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'

It’s a few weeks before Tenoch Huerta Mejía makes his Marvel movie debut in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and he's navigating a perfect storm of nerves and excitement.

“I feel like I’m on the beach (and) it’s warm and beautiful, but the tsunami’s coming," the Mexican actor says, smiling over a Zoom chat.

As the antagonistic Namor, leader of the underwater kingdom Talokan, Mejía, 41, brings a new wave of problems for the Wakandan warriors of director Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” sequel (in theaters Nov. 11). The Oscar-nominated 2018 hit celebrated Black people and African traditions, and the fresh faces of “Forever” could do the same for Latino community with a fictional global superpower inspired by Mayan and Mesoamerican culture.

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At the end of the original “Panther,” King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) revealed to the world that Wakanda, considered by many a developing nation, was the most technologically advanced country on the planet. But in the sequel, T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), Dora Milaje leader Okoye (Danai Gurira) and others are mourning the loss of their king when Namor decides to invade Wakanda, as the Black Panther is no longer there to protect them.

“Wakanda has the privilege in some ways of opening themselves up to the surface world in the present day because they've amassed so much power over time,” says producer Nate Moore. “Namor's people don't feel like they have that same privilege. They've had to flee before and they know what conquest can look like and how damaging that can be.”

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Namor the Sub-Mariner, as he’s been known in the comic books since 1939, is one of Marvel’s oldest superheroes, predating Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and even Captain America. Just as on the page, “Namor is a relatively conceited character and believes he knows better than everyone,” Moore says. Mejía primarily sees someone whose “main goal is to keep his people safe and hide from the exterior world.”

He’s also a mutant who can fly, thanks to the wings on his ankles. He's older than the rest of the Talokan people, and sports pointy ears, but without the same blue tint to his skin. Those differences set Namor apart from his peers in a way that's "a bit emotionally isolating,” Moore adds. “There's a tragedy to that character and a wisdom that comes with loss, and that is where he connects with Shuri in the film.”

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The first “Black Panther” focused on the importance of the personalities around T’Challa, and “Wakanda Forever” does the same thing with Namor by introducing Namora (Mabel Cadena) and Attuma (Alex Livinalli) as his trusted advisers.

Namora, Namor’s cousin in the comics, is the Talokan king’s “right hand,” who's both princess and fighter, says Cadena, a Mexican actress. And the fearsome Attuma is “a force to be reckoned with," says Livinalli, who was born in Venezuela and raised in Miami Beach. “He’s the type of guy you don't want to piss off, but there's a very noble humanity to him.”

While the comic-book Namor rules over Atlantis, “Wakanda Forever” filmmakers designed a kingdom anchored in Mayan mythology, just as Wakanda pulled from disparate African cultures.

The actors were impressed by the level of detail in the Talokan wardrobe, art pieces and symbols – Cadena was wowed by the “amazing” masks that signaled their importance in Mexican culture. Mayan consultants were hired for the production, one of whom was an on-set linguist: Talokan characters communicate with each other in the Yucatec Mayan dialect. “I thought coming in, ‘I’m fluent in Spanish; Mayan is not going to be that difficult.’ Wrong!” Livinalli says.

Mejía felt pride and happiness seeing himself in full Namor mode in the mirror for the first time. “It was like, ‘Oh my god, this is serious. This is good. This is beautiful.’ And at the same time, those Speedos were so tiny,” he says with a laugh. “It's a balance, man.”

He’s received messages from fans about how important the Latin representation is onscreen in “Wakanda Forever.” “We are here now, and we are not going anywhere,” Mejía says.

Livinalli also takes that to heart: “My mom brought me here for a better life. This could show other kids, ‘Hey, you know what? My mom brought me here. Perhaps I can do it, too.”’