Written by Edwin Francisco
Can you imagine a romance between Namor and Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? Apparently, at some point while developing the Marvel movie, production actually filmed it.
In the film, Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Namor (Tenoch Huerta) never showed a romantic relationship. But it seems like the filmmakers were testing the waters with it. ComicBookMovie.com has reported that Ryan Coogler did film scenes of that nature between the two leads of the film. Not only that, but it was even shown to test audiences. In other words, this sub plot was actually one that the production completed.
Although, we don’t know how the audiences reacted to the relationship. But I would presume that elements of it didn’t go well. Or if it did, I’m curious what made the filmmakers decide to remove it? I wonder how far they were into the development of the film before deciding not to pursue this idea.
Deleted Romance Between Namor and Shuri In Black Panther 2
Image: Marvel Studios
Obviously, those scenes didn’t push through and were eventually deleted from the final film. And, it could have just been a rumor if the people behind the film didn’t reveal it themselves. Heck, there were even shippers for Namor and Shuri. Their own editor revealed and confirmed that they did work on it. In an interview with Newsweek, Michael P. Shawver editor of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever revealed:
I think what’s really interesting is there were takes where there was some connection there. And at one point in an early cut we discussed like, ‘Hey, do we leave it there? Do we just put it out there? Let’s just add some complexity to the relationship.’
But then, you’ve got to watch out for portraying, for example, Shuri flirting to get what she wants as opposed to being a diplomatic leader and becoming the leader that she needs to be, that she’ll get to at the end.
That seemed to be a smart choice for Shuri to show more leadership, which I do agree with. To see Shuri in a romantic relationship would be fine though. But I suppose in the context of her trying to prove her worth, that element of romance could be more of a distraction.
Shawver continues:
So, what we ultimately focused on was Namor’s line where he says, ‘only the most damaged people can be truly great leaders’, and that’s planting the seed of the shared trauma that she realizes at the end [of the film].But that’s essentially who they are, they’re trying to lead and be a leader of their nations with all this pain, carrying around this heavy heart.
Deleted Romance Between Namor and Shuri In Black Panther 2
Image: Marvel Studios
This is understandable and we can see why they could have a romantic relationship. They both are going through a difficult time. Both of them are emotionally struggling, and because of it, they are looking for someone who can understand what they are going through.
They relate, and I think that anytime we can relate to somebody there can be undertones of that kind of thing, you know what I mean?
Honestly, we’ve got to keep ourselves sane and laugh a lot, especially with the tougher moments or the serious moments, so we would always joke that when he gave her that bracelet they were married now, and she didn’t know it.
There’s a whole different movie where she’s like, ‘wait, what, I’m the queen of Talokan now?
We wonder how the film would have turned out if Ryan Coogler did pursue the romantic angle. I mean, would their relationship add to the emotional value of the movie? If ever, they were able to push through with it, would it have affected how we see Shuri as a leader? How can she be a leader when a real threat comes their way?
Even though it might have been interesting to see how it went, I think I’m happy to just see this in an episode of What if…? Instead of putting it in the main timeline of the MCU.