Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Concept Art Shows Namor’s Early Design

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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Concept Art Shows Namor’s Early Design

New concept art of Namor from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was shared over the weekend, giving fans an interesting look at how the character went from a drawing to the big screen.

Former Marvel Studios Senior Visual Development Artist Anthony Francisco recently shared a batch of Namor concept art to his Instagram page, with a message that thanked Marvel Studios for choosing his design as the one that made it to the screen. In the images, a Namor that looks almost identical to the one that was in the film can be seen, with Francisco also discussing some of the Mayan influences that would end up making his costume.

“The necklace for Namor was a treat to design,” said Francisco in his post. “Looking to Mayan glyphs and architecture for inspiration! But the break though would come in a dream! I would imagine that I was an artist living in that time and looking for work. This was when I saw the two serpents on the necklace in my dream. Then I woke from my dream and started designing with Kukulkan in mind. I explained that the two serpents represented the duality of Kukulkan.”

Check out the concept art for Namor below:

The design for the character, which Francisco notes started a year before production did, also saw the artist watching many different films. Francisco noted that he watched numerous documentaries on the Mayans, Olmecs, and Aztecs for his research, and also looked at the history of ancient indigenous people across the world, as well as the history of Mexico and its colonization.

Wakanda Forever saw the return of most of Black Panther‘s original main cast, including Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Winston Duke as M’Baku, and Florence Kasumba as Ayo. Joining them were franchise newcomers Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico) as Namor, Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You) as Aneka, Mabel Cadena as Namora, and Alex Livinalli as Attuma.