On a recent episode of Kevin Smith’s Fatman on Batman podcast, Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada revealed that Marvel Studios has retained the rights to Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Of course, this isn’t the first time Quesada has assumed the rights to Namor had returned to Marvel — and Namor’s movie rights are some of the most confusing in comic book movie world. Still, it’s long overdue for a movie featuring one of the high-profile members of Marvel’s Illuminati, not to mention the fact that Namor is a perfect opportunity to cast an Asian American male as a lead in the MCU!
If you follow the NOC on the internet, you’re well aware that we made a similar plea a couple years back when Iron Fist was announced for Netflix. Of course, that ship has since sailed (apparently, the High Sparrow has been teaching Ser Loras kung fu all this time) and we still don’t have an Asian American lead in the movie-side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
One of the pushbacks we got with #AAIronFist was that Marvel’s first Asian American superhero in live action shouldn’t be a martial artist. While I still don’t believe that should matter, the fact is there are few classic Asian characters in the Big Two comics that don’t fall into various tropes. But after the debacle of whitewashing characters like The Ancient One in the MCU, this is the right time to announce a Namor movie — or at the very least, make him a part of the upcoming Infinity War. Besides, there’s an actor out there who’s already perfect for the role.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s high time Marvel casts Daniel Dae Kim as the Sub-Mariner!
In addition to his extensive acting experience, Kim has all the geek cred you need after starring as Jin for six seasons of Lost (in which he proved he had the chops to play an Imperius Jerk and a sensitive romantic). And he’s already down for the idea of playing the character.
Plus, have you seen this dude? He’s already built like a superhero — and has Namor’s cheekbones to match.
Speaking of cheeks, a recent episode of Hawaii 5-0 proved DDK knows how to rock Namor’s skimpy superhero costume as well.
Besides, DC already has Marvel beat when it comes to POC Atlanteans when they cast Jason Momoa as Aquaman — even imbuing the character with Pasifika mythology — and put James Wan in the director’s chair (for now). And before the racist fanboys come at this with Namor’s whiteness, Saladin Ahmed pointed this out on twitter last night:
So, get on that, Marvel. You have a lot to make up for, and an #AANamor will go a long way.
PS, in the event that Daniel Dae Kim is unavailable, you can definitely go with any of the shirtless dudes in this list of actors you didn’t pick for Iron Fist.