The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Namor the Sub-Mariner will not be the villain some fans may be expecting him to be in the upcoming film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

During a recent interview with Empire magazine, Tenoch Huerta -- who plays Namor in the Black Panther sequel -- clarified that his character is an anti-hero, not a villain. "Latin-Americans are always the bad guys in Hollywood movies. And now we are the heroes -- or an anti-hero, in this instance," Huerta said.

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Confusion regarding Namor's exact role in Wakanda Forever likely stems from the fact that the film's teaser trailer appears to present him as an enemy of the nation of Wakanda. Still, it should be noted that superheroes don't always get along with one another (e.g. Captain America: Civil War). In fact, Namor and Black Panther have a long-standing rivalry in the original Marvel comic books. Furthermore, while Namor does have superhero allies in the comics, he is shown to be generally distrusting of surface dwellers -- much like how the people of Wakanda tend to be wary of outsiders.

Elsewhere in the Empire interview, Huerta expressed hope that his involvement in Wakanda Forever will help to inspire Hispanic and Latino viewers in much the same way the first Black Panther film inspired Black audiences. "...we [Latin-Americans] are making something to be proud of in Hollywood," he said.

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To Huerta's point, in addition to his upcoming debut as Namor, there certainly seems to have been an uptick in the amount of Latino superheroes featured as part of major franchises in the last several years. The Marvel television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., for instance, featured not only Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena Rodriguez/Yo-Yo, but also Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider. More recently, the Marvel Studios film Eternals featured Salma Hayek the role of Ajak.

Outside the MCU, Sony's animated Marvel film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse put the half-Black, half-Puerto Rican Miles Morales/Spider-Man at the forefront -- with two sequels on the way. Over on the DC side of things, Xolo Maridueña is set to star as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle in the DC Extended universe film Blue Beetle.

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Namor Is Marvel's Original Mutant

Created by Bill Everett -- who is perhaps best known as the co-creator of Daredevil -- Namor first appeared in the uncirculated Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1, cover-dated April 1939. The character made his first appearance for Timely Comics -- Marvel's predecessor -- in Marvel Comics #1, released August 1939. Pre-dating the creation of DC's Aquaman by two years, Namor is the superhero ruler of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis.

In addition to being Marvel's first mutant, Namor is also commonly believed to be the very first comic book anti-hero. He is generally portrayed as being rather kind-hearted, though also has a quick temper and -- as previously mentioned -- is wary of surface-dwellers and tends to butt heads with other heroes.

RELATED: Namor's MCU Kingdom Isn't Atlantis in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

See Tenoch Huerta in action as Namor when Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in theaters on Friday, Nov. 11.

Source: Empire, via The Direct