Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Namor (Tenoch Huerta) spent a good amount of time together in Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and as I watched the movie, there were moments where I was wondering if a romance would spark between them. Well, it turns out that that almost did happen!
According to editor Michael P. Shawver, the Black Panther sequel almost included a romance plot between Shuri and Namor, but those scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. In an interview with Newsweek Shawver explained that this romance was discussed and even shot. He said:
“I think what’s really interesting is there were takes where there were 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.’”
He went on to talk about Shuri’s flirtation as a leader and how that might be viewed:
“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.”
In the end, the focus of the two characters was put on a connection they shared through trauma, and that’s what their friendship and alliance would be built on:
“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.”
I’m not sure if the romance would have worked, so they made the right decision in cutting that aspect of the story out. Huerta previously shut down the idea of a romance between the characters, saying:
“I don’t feel like it was a romantic touch [between them]. I think it was more a human, intimate touch. I mean in the history of their kingdoms, the history of their people, they share the same root, and the threat comes from the same place for both of them, for the same reason. They both face threats from Western countries like the United States and France in the story, because of vibranium, natural resources. I think they connect in that aspect.
“I mean, when you meet someone and you have a good relationship, whether this person is the gender that you prefer or not, you always have this ambiguous relationship It’s normal. It’s human. So, I think this happened with both of them. If that can evolve into a romantic relationship or not? I don’t know. It wasn’t our intention. It could happen or not. The beautiful part of this relationship is it doesn’t need to be romantic to be deep. It doesn’t need to be romantic to be beautiful and bright and intimate. And this connection between a man and a woman in different levels doesn’t need, necessarily, to end in a romantic relationship. And that’s beautiful, you know? Because I hate the romantic love. I think it’s poison. [Laughs]. These characters, they create something… I don’t know. It was magical, but not necessarily romantic.”
What do you all think about how the relationship between Shuri and Namor was handled in the movie? Do you think any kind of romance would have worked between them?