Thor 4 hints that Black Panther 2's Namor is an impostor

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever brought Namor to the forefront and showed everyone that Marvel still means business. They were here for the kill, and the Submariner totally represented that vibe. Moreover, he proved to be a strong antagonist, and Ryan Coogler added a nice spin on him by turning him into K'uk'ulkan, the feathered serpent God.

However, a new hint from Thor 4 suggests that Namor was an imposter! While many MCU fans believe that he isn't the real feathered serpent god, Coogler wants us to believe so. There's a bit of truth to that, but thinking he is an imposter would be entirely incorrect. So, to understand Namor better, we need to know the real-world inspiration he is based on.

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The inspiration behind Namor and Talokan

Namor, Attuma, and Namora in Black Panther 2 (Image via Marvel Studios)

Black Panther was a movie heavily based on African culture. Consequently, director Ryan Coogler continued the same trend with its sequel, as Namor and the Talokanil people were rooted in the cultures of the old Mayan and Aztec civilizations prevalent before the Spanish invasion. For those unaware, these civilizations resided in the southern part of North America, i.e., Mesoamerica.

Intending to explore the Mesoamerican roots, Marvel picked the Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta to portray Namor. On the other hand, MCU’s Talokan is inspired by an underworld afterlife called “Tlalocan” from the Aztec codices. It is described as a paradise for the souls of those who met their end because of a water/storm-related incident.

Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Image via Marvel)

As for Namor’s title K'uk'ulkan, it is based on the name of a Mesoamerican feathered serpent deity, who was worshiped by the Yucatec Maya civilizations before Spain invaded their lands.

Since Namor’s leg-wings and crown symbolized K'uk'ulkan, his people presumed that he was the actual god of Aztec mythology. However, this deity is different and also exists in the MCU.

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The real K'uk'kulkan of MCU

The discussion on this topic surfaced when Reddit user u/ItzYaBoiGalaxy pointed out that K'uk'kulkan, the Feathered Serpent God, is a different persona altogether, and he made a cameo during Thor: Love and Thunder's godly reunion in Omnipotence city. The Redditor posted:

Screenshot of u/ItzYaBoiGalaxy's post (Image via Reddit)

Looking at this post, many fans began questioning Namor’s legitimacy as a god. Many think that he is an imposter of the real feathered serpent God. However, that’s not entirely true. We’ve seen quite a few human representatives of MCU’s godly beings. The first Black Panther Bashenga and his successors are all representatives of their deity Bast, who was also present in Omnipotence city.

Before Love and Thunder, Moon Knight gave us several instances where the gods of MCU chose their own avatars. Marc Spector was the avatar of the Egyptian God Khonshu. Layla became the avatar of the hippo Goddess Taweret, and Arthur Harrow represented Ammit. Along with them, we saw several avatars of the Ennead gods unite to pass their judgment on Harrow.

Namor in Wakanda Forever (Image via Marvel)

Theorizing in the same vein of the aforementioned discussion, Namor isn’t an imposter but a representative of the real K'uk'kulkan. His people believe him to be the real feathered serpent God because of his slow aging factor, his super strength, and his overall appearance with the feathers and other physical attributes. However, his situation is quite similar to Hindu mythology and the Indian gods.

Besides Hanuman, other Hindu mythological beings haven't been mentioned in the MCU yet. Since Marvel is adding all the godly mythologies of the real world to their cinematic universe, we can presume that Hindu gods would also exist in this world as well.

As is the case with Lord Rama and Krishna, who were avatars of Lord Vishnu but are worshiped individually, Namor's situation also bears the same gravity. Similar to the Indian Gods, the Submariner is also worshiped individually, even though he is only a representation of the real K'uk'kulkan.