We talk about racial representation in blockbuster movies with Tenoch Huerta, the almighty Namor, leader of Talocan in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.
Due to the premiere of ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, the new Marvel movie, we had the opportunity to speak with Tenoch Huerta, the Mexican actor in charge of interpreting this new Namora version of the character that swaps the mythological Atlantis for Talocan, another submerged kingdom but, this time, with Mesoamerican foundations.
“Representation helps us shape the world“, clarifies an actor who speaks frankly about the importance of inclusion in the highest grossing cinema. “What I want is for children in Latin America, and particularly in Mexico, to be able to look in the mirror and realize that the reflection that throws is beautiful and that there was never anything wrong with them, the bad thing was in the eyes that looked at them all this time”.
“The representation is not going to stop,” he assures when we ask him to address all those who continue to see a problem in each minimally leading character who is not a cis and heterosexual white man. “Many people have built their identity through these racist, classist and misogynistic myths.. It was also hard when I became aware that, being a man, he had many advantages in a society as macho as mine.”
“The world has already changed, it’s going to be configured differently,” warns us an actor who began his career in 2008 with titles like ‘I just want to walk’ (Agustín Díaz Yanes) and who we have been able to see in Mexican jewels like ‘Without nombre’ (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2009) and ‘Güeros’ (Alonso Ruizpalacios, 2014) and who has become international by participating in projects such as ‘Vacations in Hell’ (Adrian Grunberg, 2012), ‘Spectre’ (Sam Mendes, 2015), ‘The author’ (Manuel Martín Cuenca, 2017) and ‘The Purge: Infinite’ (Everardo Gout, 2021).
“Namor’s ingenious turnaround, from the umpteenth version of an Atlantean king to a godlike mutant from a Mesoamerican village, also fails to shine in a submerged environment that is guessed much more interesting than what is shownpointing to a future success that, for the moment, remains veiled between murky waters and repetitive conversations,” says our review of ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.
But at Marvel they don’t stop and, while they continue to give us some of the longest superhero movies, they are already preparing for a new African adventure in ‘Black Panther 3’. “Certainly There are ideas we’ve been tossing around about what a third movie could be if we get to make it.“confesses producer Nate Moore (via Collider). “But until the movie comes out we’re a little superstitious in that sense. We don’t want to count our chickens, because you never know what’s going to happen.” Will we see a broader representation of the up-and-coming Talocan there?
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
