Avengers: Doomsday is bringing back a Phase 4 villain and one of Marvel Comics' oldest characters for the 2026 blockbuster. Marvel Studios announced the first 37 cast members for the MCU ensemble in a five-and-a-half-hour, chair-filled livestream, culminating with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.
While many of Avengers: Doomsday's cast announcements were expected, one of the more surprising was Tenoch Huerta's return as Namor for the ensemble. The actor's MCU comeback in Avengers 5 could have huge implications for the movie, given Namor's connections to Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), and Doctor Doom himself (Robert Downey Jr).
Huerta made his MCU debut as the villain of 2022's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (the final movie of Phase 4) and became an instant fan-favorite.
Marvel Studios previously confirmed that while he "can return" to the MCU, the studio is blocked from making a Namor solo movie as, much like Hulk, his distribution rights are entangled at Universal. This also places restrictions on how he can be utilized in the marketing for Black Panther 2, Avengers 5, and more.
Black Panther 2 offered the exciting revelation that the MCU's Namor is a mutant who has been around for over 450 years. As such, Huerta joins the confirmed X-Men actors of Patrick Stewart, Alan Cumming, and more in Avengers 5's growing line-up of mutant superheroes.
The MCU studio has already confirmed several other villains who will join Huerta's Namor in Avengers: Doomsday. Among those who have been villains, at least at one point, are Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, Ian McKellen's Magneto, Lewis Pullman's Sentry, Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost, and Wyatt Russell's John Walker.
Huerta ought to be getting in front of cameras for Avengers: Doomsday shortly, if he hasn't already, as production officially began on Monday, April 28 ahead of its long-awaited release on May 1, 2026.
Namor's MCU Past & His Avengers: Doomsday Role Explained
Namor and his Kingdom of Talokan went to war with Wakanda as it protected Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, who had just invented a vibranium detector that risked exposing its underwater existence to the rest of the world.
The underwater attacker and his army did massive damage to Wakanda and even killed its Queen Ramonda, sending her daughter Shuri on the path for revenge as she finally took up the Black Panther mantle and defeated Namor.
Ultimately, the two powerful, hidden nations allied in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and in a chilling monologue, Namor teased the future, saying, "The surface world will come for Wakanda, and Wakanda will turn to us."
Funnily enough, there were once rumors that Doctor Doom would make his MCU debut in Black Panther 2, long before plans for him to be played by former Iron Man actor Robert Dowey Jr. and hail from across the Multiverse.
Going into Avengers: Doomsday, Shuri may call upon Talkoan and its alliance with Wakanda to join her as she enters a Multiversal conflict with Doctor Doom, but his role may end up being far more complicated than that.
Namor has been a friend to Doctor Doom as both are rulers of nations who will be ruthless to do whatever they must to protect their people and interests. Meanwhile, Namor has a complicated relationship with the Fantastic Four due to his romantic feelings toward Sue Storm and therefore rivalry with Reed Richards.
It's unclear how these relationships, if at all, will be adapted into the coming Avengers movies, but regardless he could be set for a major role. In the Secret Wars comics, Namor formed the Cabal, a group willing to destroy other universes to protect theirs as Incurisons tear the Multiverse apart.
While Namor has been a villain in Marvel Comics, just as he started his MCU journey in Black Panther 2, he is more famously known as a hero. It's hard to tell exactly where his loyalties will lie in the new Avengers movies, given his comic ties to Doctor Doom but also his potential to become a major hero.
