Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced one of Marvel Comics oldest and most conflicted characters to the MCU in Tenoch Huerta’s Namor. Writer and director Ryan Coogler wanted to give Namor, who is the Prince of Atlantis in the comics, and his underwater kingdom a unique makeover. The result was the underwater city of Talokan, a Mesoamerican-inspired twist on Atlantis.
While fans only see the finished look of Namor, Talokan and its people in Wakanda Forever, the design process takes hundreds of people thousands of hours with the majority of that work never being seen. Ultimately, dozens of designs don’t make the final cut of the film for whatever reason despite having just as much work put into them as the ones that do. Concept artist Anthony Francisco, whose look for “warrior” Namor was chosen for the film, released a series of alternate designs for the character via Twitter.
Francisco’s tweets detail the incredible amount of work the artist put into the character, including researching multiple cultures and their histories. His description of how he finalized the design for Namor’s necklace, which was featured throughout the film, provides a fascinating insight into the creative process.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now in theaters.
Source: Anthony Francisco Twitter
