Call me a stickler but I'm genuinely so upset about Namor's new design in Doomsday
This is exactly what I was afraid of when I found out the Russo's were gonna be brought on for this movie. He looks like 2 white guys with nostalgia bait in mind were in charge of his costume design.
No nose piercing.
No earrings.
No traditional jewelry or garb of any kind.
And he looks to be wearing layers of clothes which makes zero sense for his character since he literally breaths through his skin.
The outfit looks to just be one big reference to comic Namor with little thought put in for the MCU character and this makes me super uneasy about how he's gonna be written.
I understand if the Russo Brothers wanted creative freedom to make an updated look for the character…that’s fine, but they need to respect the work that came before and the reasoning for it.
His jewelry: not only are the pieces made of an mix of Jade and Vibranium, in Mayan culture his jewelry shows his status as King and his authority and power in his society. (His earrings and collar are specific accessories meant for Mayan Elite). Not only that, but the Maya associate Jade with the Divine (as he is the prophesied king of Talokan and was named after a deity K’ uk’ ulkan). His Jewelry also provides spiritual protection and may be involved in rituals…Let’s not also forget that Namor is so anti colonizer, that it’s a no-brained that the man would wear his jewels as a way to display pride in his culture and defiance against those from the surface.
In short, the man had drip. As it befits his status.
His Clothing: The costume designers for Wakanda Forever (lead by Oscar winner and legend Ruth Carter) put great effort to reference Native American (specifically Maya) tribal designs. His poncho, his dress (I cannot find the name of the actual garment. I’m sorry) his half shoulder robe, his skirt (I know it has a specific name, again, sorry) his various necklaces and shoulder pieces, even his ceremonial dress with his hand-carved-by-weta-artists headdress…There’s a reason these costumes are in display at museums, people. Because they are that amazing and beautiful, and rich in patterns and textures.
Now we have what seems to be layers of clothing (which we’ve seen Namor wear before, but nothing in fabric this stiff) which doesn’t allow for much movement under water and may hinder combat. So not only does that make no sense we’ve also removed his piercings and the cultural and spiritual significance that goes along with it. Ryan put so much effort to not only give a good antagonist, but to give actually good Native American representation, which is a rarity onto itself. (I’ve been told that people of the Maya population are very happy with this movie). So much so, that in the movie, the Talokanil speak Yucatec Mayan (Namor’s tribe is from Yucatán). Even the name Talokan derives from Tlalocan (one of the Aztec afterlives) but since Mayan doesn’t have that verbal sound they change it to ‘Talokan’. All of these details and analogs to real life Native American culture actually make Namor seem more grounded and real. Now we just got a guy with a really high collar who looks like a 70’s cartoon supervillain. (Can you tell I hate that collar yet?)
I feel like they just decided to disrespect the designers of WF and their work to represent Mayan Culture through the lens of a colored director and to tell a story about the real life effects and trauma of colonization, because…..we want to make a reference to the comic, I guess.
If I’m being honest (based on leaked footage) that coat looks soo generic in both color and material. It’s like they just went and got something at the Marvel studio costume warehouse and gave him that. Now he just looks like a forced gritty/edgy/dark/serious version of the charismatic character we got in a previous film….
Besides, why do we have to change his costume so much but Winston Duke playing M’baku can get away with wearing similar costumes for 3 movies (including IW) and the same haircut for 4. And Mabel Cardona’s (Namora) costume didn’t see any changes from what’s in the trailer.
Now, with that being said, costume changes are inevitable and these updates are meant to show the passage of time. I recognize that we only got glimpses of Namor so they may end up changing things or maybe the jacket is so he can “blend in better. Honestly, I sincerely hope that this is a Namor from an alternate universe. I really do. (And even then, this version doesn’t look particularly interesting, visually.) I don’t want them to take one of the most interesting antagonists in the MCU (definitely the best one since Loki and Killmonger) and turn him into a generic background supporting character.
I reeeeeeeally hope that the trailer showed a Namor from a different universe. because, what the hell is this?? What have they done to him?? His throne no longer has Jade/vibranium teeth.
Where is his jewelry? His headpiece? Are those fish scales?! And a belt buckle and arm braces depicting waves?!!
He looks like a generic action figure designed by Mattel or a character from the Aquaman movies/DC universe. Are we that depleted of creativity? They really traded in an already excellent design for a white-washed generic design with blue fish scales? Also, why leather? He wouldn’t be able to breathe through his skin. Essentially suffocating him.
Like this is an honest disrespect to Ruth Carter’s and Weta’s amazing work. They could’ve used the other concepts done in BP2, if the actor wanted to be more covered up, or if they wanted to do a different concept, too.
Now, I don’t want to get ahead of myself before seeing the movie. But they’re not giving me too much hope here. And I get that this costume references another Namor look from the comics, but that Namor has an entirely different backstory (and ethnicity). Ruth Carter made some designs paying homage to that same look and they looked far more interesting than this. And it’s funny how the Talokanil, Shuri’s and Namora’s costume is basically the same as the previous movie, but it was Namor that got an entirely new look.
It seems to me that Namor is getting the Thor treatment where his rich heritage and culture is going to be replaced by some generic cool looking leather costume that has nothing to do with the character’s story.
