Marvel's Namor Made His Video Game Debut In An Unexpected Title

The release of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" marked the film debut of a significant character in Marvel Comics lore: Namor the Sub-Mariner. While the beloved anti-hero's backstory has been altered and updated for the MCU (where he is portrayed by Tenoch Huerta), many of the broad strokes are the same. The monarch of an undersea kingdom, Namor often finds himself at odds with the denizens of the surface world. Those tensions sometimes escalate into all-out war, which means Namor and the heroes of the Marvel Universe typically share an uneasy alliance, even when they're working together.

Before Namor appeared in the films, however, the character was adapted to a number of other mediums. He's of course been a supporting player in various animated series over the years, with notable appearances in the 1990s "Fantastic Four" cartoon and "Avengers Assemble." Namor has also made his way to the world of video games on more than one occasion, albeit in small roles. But while appearances in the likes of "Marvel Snap" and "Marvel Ultimate Alliance" may have raised his profile just a bit in gaming, Namor the Sub-Mariner actually made his video game debut in an unlikely arcade title.

While a bit more obscure than some of the wall-crawler's other starring roles in games, "Spider-Man: The Video Game" was an impressive arcade beat-em-up released by Sega in 1991. The game pit Spidey and three of his amazing friends — Black Cat, Hawkeye, and Sub-Mariner — against a cadre of supervillains including Venom, Doctor Doom, and the Kingpin. 

Comic book fans may recognize this as an odd lineup of heroes. While Black Cat is famous for hanging around Spider-Man (even occasionally as a love interest), ol' Web Head isn't exactly besties with Hawkeye and the Sub-Mariner, an Avenger and superhuman king, respectively. Still, Namor is a fun character to control in the game, as his projectile water attacks are capable of walloping enemies from a distance. This game also apparently takes place in a world where Namor is considerably more of a celebrity, judging from a bizarre giant fish tank modeled after the character that appears in the first stage.

Namor has appeared in many games since, but rarely in such a prominent capacity. However, now that Namor is more of a household name following "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," who's to say the Sub-Mariner won't have more of a starring role in future games?