A new report has just been released claiming that Tenoch Huerta will be playing a beloved character in the upcoming sequel to Black Panther. Huerta, who starred in Narcos: Mexico, was cast in Black Panther 2 last November, but until now his role has been shrouded in mystery.

According to The Illuminerdi,in the film, now known to be titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Huerta apparently plays Namor the Sub-Mariner. Canonically, Namor is the king of Atlantis and has a zest for warring on the surface world. At one point, he even went up against Wakanda, Black Panther's home nation. Atlantis's appearance on the big screen has been foreshadowed since an Easter egg in Iron Man 2, but more recently it was hinted at in Avengers: Endgame when Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) mentioned an undersea earthquake.

Bringing Namor into the MCU has historically been difficult for Disney, since Marvel sold his film rights to Universal in the 1990s. However, this doesn't prevent him from appearing in films that star other characters; the same principle has applied to the Hulk, who mostly appears in team-up movies nowadays in order to avoid haggling over distribution with Universal.

These announcements show that Phase 4 of the MCU is now back on track after being delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Later this year, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Eternals are all scheduled for release, with Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever debuting sometime in 2022.