Wakanda mourns its monarch, Namor the Sub-Mariner appears, someone else (Shuri?) wears the Black Panther outfit, and a baby is born. Marvel fans are in for a treat.

As soon as it opened in cinemas in February of last year, Marvel Studios’ Black Panther quickly rose to the top of the list of all-time great comic book movies. Additionally, the film’s representation, cultural extension, and realistic look and feel made it an immediate classic in Marvel Cinematic Universe cinema. As a result, Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death in August 2020 was a massive blow to the MCU and Marvel fans everywhere.

A new trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has arrived, and it’s jam-packed with old and new characters. Tenoch Huerta, who will portray the villainous Namor, the Sub-Mariner, was only previewed. One of Marvel’s longest-running characters, Namor, has never featured in the MCU. Of course, the trailer for Black Panther 2 doesn’t reveal anything about the undersea dictator.

With its recent release for fans to devour, there was a baby that made its appearance. With the O.G. Black Panther’s death visible in the first scene, I couldn’t help but wonder if the cinematic birth of that baby was T’Challa’s son Azari. I dug a little into this so you wouldn’t have to. Here’s what I found out. 

Is That T’Challa’s son Azari?

After the unfortunate loss of Chadwick Boseman, many Marvel fans were anxious about the future of Black Panther. It has also been feared that Marvel would not be able to adequately commemorate Boseman’s contributions to the MCU.

Because I believe fans need to know now, rather than later, that Black Panther has a definite long-term future and a route that I hope most would agree with, respects both Boseman and T’Challa. T’Challa’s legacy will live on in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and beyond, thanks to Nakia’s son with T’Challa! That is correct. They may have just had a baby!

But again, Marvel fans will know that T’Challa had his son Azari with Storm, not Nakia. In the comics, Nakia had a relationship with the Black Panther, but she ended up working for Killmonger and taking on the identity of Malice, a villain. T’Challa and his wife Storm/Ororo Munroe have a son called Azari in the animation Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow. 

Within the Marvel Zombies (2006) by Robert Kirkman, T’Challa had yet another child. After the zombie apocalypse, he marries Lisa Hendricks. They had a son, T’Channa, who died and was used in an experiment to transplant Captain America’s brain into his body. 

If this baby is T’Challa and Nakia’s, it’s still up in the air whether his unborn child will be named after him or not. So who is that baby in the trailer?

Could It Be Namor?

In the trailer, we observe a woman who looks pregnant and then gives birth underwater. Tenoch Huerta, who would portray Namor the Sub-Mariner as an adult, is not explicitly mentioned as the father of the wing-footed infant. He was born to a male human and an aquatic princess of the Atlantean realm.

There are a few sequences in the trailer when an adult Namor is shown, such as at 1:36, when M’Baku rushes at him from a boat and is blasted with energy. It seems that the movie will match Atlantis, commanded by Namor, against Wakanda, led by whoever is attempting to stand in for T’Challa.

You never know what you’re going to get with this one. I’d also want to highlight my enthusiasm at seeing more of Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia in the future since she is his mother, not Ororo, as previously thought.

My knowledge of the actor portraying Nakia and T’Challa’s son is currently limited. However, owing to his young age in this future film, he may be aged up and recast as they did with Cassie Lang from the Ant-Man movies.

In any event, I’m confident Marvel’s casting team will do an excellent job of identifying the right actor for the part. It’s unlikely that any of these characters will appear in the MCU, despite their previous appearances.

Even though Ryan Coogler and Marvel have yet to confirm whether or not this baby will be a Black Panther or just a sweet glimpse at Namor’s childhood, it will undoubtedly be a big one.