Exactly the bolded. This is why I said true Namor fans (and I'm not fond of those exclusionary 'distinctions'), fans who love the character and want to see him shine, don't want him anywhere near a Black Panther movie. There's no plus side to getting trashed and abused to support another character's movie. Yes, it would get him in the MCU and give him exposure, but at what cost?
Namor DID get more exposure and probably won a few fans with Hickman's run, but what has it gotten his fans? Not even a big fat zero. It got Namor sunk in a giant negative hole of character abuse with labels like villain, mass murderer and genocide, with absolutely NO serious attempt to fix the character. In the TEN years since AvX we didn't even get a mini-series, much less an ongoing -- while characters like Solo and Slapstick (yes, freaking SLAPSTICK) were given chances, and other characters were given multiple chances at ongoings.
Even his appearances started drying up and all we Namor fans got were promises of future arcs in team books that never appeared and then the final ignominy, getting decapitated to boost sales of freaking DC knock off team! Really?!! Thanks a lot Hickman. I had to LOL bitterly when he recently revealed his cardinal rule:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/hickman-p...an-x-men-sdcc/
TEN YEARS later, I'm still waiting for Hickman (or SOMEONE that cares) to clean his own damn mess as far as Namor is concerned. Yes, bitter much. So, no, I don't think Hickman's storyline did Namor any good. And Black Panther didn't exactly cover himself in glory in it either, and for me personally, it soured me on the character. But BP has the support of Marvel's editorial and the MCU, so he's getting all the help needed for recovery.
And I agree, it makes no sense. Plus, for Namor to be introduced in a BP film, that's probably half the film, if not more, introducing the character, his world and his motivation. I would have thought "true" BP fans wouldn't care for that either. And don't even get me started on the optics of casting an Asian Atlantis / Namor as an aggressive world menace AND tossing in the racial conflict also. I swear. Both Marvel and their MCU / TV divisions are complete idiots when it comes to the Asian and Asian American markets. I don't have much hope for Shang Chi, at all.
Yes. When I see a reputable source, like Variety or Hollywood Reporter talking about Namor in a movie, then I'll believe it. I'm not sure WHO is geeking out over having Namor in a BP movie, maybe the rumbles folks, but it if is fans of the characters, I don't think they are actually thinking about what that would mean.