Namor vs Aquaman Who Came First?
The fanbase of DC and Marvel have always argued over who was the stronger character but not everyone knows who appeared first in their own comic book universes. Aquaman and Namor are two somewhat similar characters from two of the most known comic book companies.
The question fans ask when they discover both superheroes is “who came first?” Before we get to know the answer to that question we have to know about the origins of each character and which one would win in a fight!
Namor Origins
In the 1970s when comic books first went from pulp to popularity, Marvel Comics introduced a new character to the world of comics called Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Namor was created as the prince of Atlantis whose motives were surrounded around the well-being of Atlantis. He is shown in the comics as an anti-hero whose decision might sometimes be considered polarising, to say the least!
In the comics, he was initially a member of the Inhumans, but he later left to be on his own. Namor was also a prominent member of the Illuminati but in the MCU he was not included in the team.
The aquatic superhuman was raised in the city of Atlantis as the prince, and he was a warrior for his people against the surface dwellers.
Aquaman Origins
In the DC comics, Atlantis was destroyed by the warlike people of Krypton, but the heroes left behind managed to escape with a few things, such as a golden compass.
It’s said that the golden compass points to the lost city of Atlantis, so its discovery gave birth to the character of Aquaman. On their journey to find Atlantis, using the compass, Arthur came to know of his true purpose in the DCEU.
Aquaman was the first part of the Justice League and has already been introduced to the audience in the DCEU. Aquaman also has his highly anticipated second solo film coming out in late 2023 titled Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom.
Who came first Namor or Aquaman?
The origin of each character has been debated in the past. While some have claimed that Namor’s creation preceded Aquaman’s, others believe that Aquaman is actually the older one.
Namor was created in 1939 by Carl Burgos and Mort Meskin, but he first appeared in comic book series titled Marvel Mystery Comics #15 in July 1940. He was later given his own title, The submariner.
Aquaman, on the other hand, first appeared in comic books published by DC in April 1954. The story, written by John Broome and George Pérez, featured the debut of the Mer-Man character and was titled The Secret of Atlantis.
There are four main arguments in favor of Namor’s creation being the first. These include the fact that the name of the Sub-Mariner is similar to the name of the Aquanauts, the similarity between the Undersea King and the Earth’s most famous mermaid, Nessie, and that the Sub-Mariner appeared in the Famous Frolics of the Undersea World in 1938, which predates the Aquaman by seven years.
A Versus Between The Two
There has been a cross-over event of DC and Marvel Characters in the past. In it, Aquaman defeated Namor by calling a whale and having it land on Arthur. So in the comic book timeline, there is a clear winner.
The interesting thing is how both would fare in their cinematic universe cross-over. Depending on how they portray Namor in the upcoming Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Namor might have a slight edge over Aquaman.
In reality when considering Namor vs Aquaman, whoever came first would also have a slight edge in originality and Namor was the original ruler of Atlantis.