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Sylvester Stallone Got Real About Why He’s Not *Really* A Comic Book Movie Leading Man

Sylvester Stallone is not a comic-book movie virgin. Samaritan recently laid out the case that he could pick up this kind of heroic role, and he of course starred in Judge Dredd back in the 1990s. He portrayed Stakar Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, and no one can ever resist him as the voice of King Shark in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. He nearly ended up being Superman for Richard Donner, although Christopher Reeve obviously ended up snagging the role. And The Expendables franchise does also contain a comic book series, but that all gets very circular.

Really though, Stallone’s career has been forged upon iconic characters like John Rambo and Rocky Balboa in more grounded universes than the MCU or DCEU. He’s obviously fronted multiple franchises and continues to carry leading-man strength, as he’ll soon prove again in Paramount’s Tulsa King, which looks incredibly fun. To promote the show, he sat down with The Hollywood Reporter for a wide-ranging interview that included the Superman casting business. Stallone reasoned that he’s not really in line with comic-book leading-man vibes, although he wouldn’t have minded playing a character like Nick Fury. Via THR:

“I don’t look like any comic-book character. Like I could have never played The Terminator. No one would make a robot with a crooked mouth and voice that sounds like a pallbearer. It just doesn’t work. But yes. Who was the guy Sam Jackson ended up playing? … Yeah. I thought I could have done something like that, where I’m not the main guy.”

That leads me to a little side note about how Sam Jackson became Nick Fury after Mark Millar used his likeness for the character without gaining advance permission. That gamble turned out well in the end for all, and Fury is firmly entrenched as an MCU anchor and will appear in 2023’s Secret Invasion series for Disney+. That’s quite the elaborate setup, but Stallone seems perfectly cool with not taking that career route. He’s definitely doing great and even revealed to THR that he turned down $34 million to star in Rambo IV as conceived in the late 1980s while shooting Rambo III. Stallone did continue with that role later down the line, but the rest is cinematic history.

Now, we’ll soon see him take over your TV. Tulsa King premieres on November 13.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

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Roddy Ricch Swears Off Visiting Canada After Being Stopped At The Border (Again)

Compton rapper Roddy Ricch is currently on the road with Post Malone, opening for the Twelve Carat Toothache Tour, but unfortunately for fans in Vancouver, Roddy wasn’t able to join his tourmate in Canada. In a post on Instagram Stories Sunday, he wrote, “The Federal Border Patrol did not allow me into Vancouver, BC. I apologize to my fans. I don’t believe I’ll be revisiting Canada anytime soon because they’ve harassed me every time I’ve come and Imma be completely honest, I’m tired of the harassment.”

roddy ricch border patrol instagram
Instagram

According to Complex, Roddy was able to resolve a previous incident by calling Drake, who apparently was able to smooth things over. Perhaps the situation was different enough this time that Drake couldn’t help, or maybe Roddy just couldn’t get him on the phone, but either way, it looks like Roddy Ricch fans north of the border may not be seeing him for some time.

Roddy’s had some other rough incidents on tour this year, through no fault of his own. In Switzerland, he literally had to kick a fan off the stage when they climbed up during a performance of “The Box.” The stage crasher tried to grab Roddy, but was collected by security before they could do so.

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Britney Spears Detailed Painful ‘Nerve Damage’ She Sustained On The Right Side Of Her Body

Britney Spears has been enjoying her post-conservatorship freedom for a while now, but it hasn’t been completely painless: She revealed she suffers from nerve damage.

Spears notes the damage was caused by insufficient oxygen levels in her brain, writing alongside a video of her dancing shared this weekend, “nerve damage on the right side of my body … there’s no cure except God I guess … nerve damage is caused sometimes when you don’t get enough oxygen to your brain … your brain literally shuts down … blah blah blah old story … in that place I didn’t breathe when I was there … nerve damage causes parts of your body to go numb. I wake up like 3 times a week in bed and my hands are completely numb … nerves are tiny and it feels like pins and needles from the right side of my body it shoots up to my neck and the part that hurts the worst is my temple on my head … it stings and it’s scary … the last 3 years since I got out of that place I’ve been in a mild unconscious state.”

It would seem “that place” refers to the mental health facility Spears entered in 2019.

She also wrote, though, that she’s doing better now than she was previously, saying, “I finally found a medication where I actually feel oxygen going to my brain and through my neck … my eyes are more open now and I can hold my head up correctly … I’ve done a good job trying to pull it off. Either way I’m getting a lot better, I can breathe … I feel smarter because well, Jesus I can breathe now.”

Check out Spears’ post below.

“I’m dancing in time now Victoria … yes … nerve damage on the right side of my body … there’s no cure except God I guess … nerve damage is caused sometimes when you don’t get enough oxygen to your brain … your brain literally shuts down … blah blah blah old story … in that place I didn’t breathe when I was there … nerve damage causes parts of your body to go numb. I wake up like 3 times a week in bed and my hands are completely numb … nerves are tiny and it feels like pins and needles from the right side of my body it shoots up to my neck and the part that hurts the worst is my temple on my head … it stings and it’s scary … the last 3 years since I got out of that place I’ve been in a mild unconscious state … I couldn’t face it [sad emoji]. It was like it was too scary to be here … although my instagram has been not up to par to most … hey hey hey it gave me existence and got me here … it’s funny though when I dance I don’t feel the pain … it’s like my mind literally goes to a place of my inner child. And although I don’t move like I use to … I truly believe my faith in it gave me strength … by the grace of God I finally found a medication where I actually feel oxygen going to my brain and through my neck … my eyes are more open now and I can hold my head up correctly … I’ve done a good job trying to pull it off. Either way I’m getting a lot better, I can breathe … I feel smarter because well, Jesus I can breathe now … either way, I’m breathing now and I can dance in time, Victoria … I send all my love to every single one of you … this is me this morning [sun emoji] … I’m gonna vacuum now !!!”

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Halle Bailey Was Moved By A Pilot’s Touching Note Thanking Her For ‘Being An Inspiration To Little Brown Girls’

Despite Halle Bailey’s upcoming role in The Little Mermaid causing some controversy (most of it furled by racist trolls), the singer and actress has also inspired many by becoming the first Black Ariel, including a Delta pilot.

While on a recent flight, the Atlanta singer received the sweetest thank-you note from the pilot on duty. “Miss Bailey, it is an honor to have you on board today,” the letter reads. “Thank You for being an inspiration to little brown girls all over the world.” Later in the note, the pilot signs her name, calling herself “Your young Latina female Delta Pilot.”

The singer shared the thank you note on Twitter Sunday evening, writing, “this amazing pilot on the plane gave me this beautiful note today.”

Bailey has been candid about her excitement about her forthcoming role and revealed the pressure she put her on herself while portraying the beloved character.

“I definitely think that because I love this movie so much, and I’ve treasured it since I was a little girl, I did put a bit of pressure on myself,” she said in a recent statement. “Just because I want to deliver all of the feels that I saw when I was a little girl… Knowing that gave it my all and gave 110 percent into everything of this film, I am really proud of myself.”

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Simple ways to stay healthy even when you’re insanely busy

Now that life is returning to normal (sort of!), people are finding it hard to fit in healthy meals amid a busy schedule. While the easiest solution may seem like grabbing fast food at a drive-thru or vending machine, that’s certainly not the healthiest choice.


Albertsons makes it easy to avoid falling into the fast food trap by offering O Organics® snacks and easy-to-prepare on-the-go meals, keeping bodies fueled and ready to run. But first? You have to make some sort of a plan, and then actually stick to it. Depending on your schedule and how many people live in your household, it may be beneficial to meal plan every week, making one large grocery list to prep lunches and dinners ahead of time.

If you don’t have time to walk the aisles of the grocery store, there’s the option of grocery pickup and/or delivery, the single most amazing invention of all time. Albertsons offers the option to create a profile based on your location, build shopping lists based on meal plans and recipes (both are available on their website), and a few clicks later, VOILA. Your order is ready for pickup!

Photo courtesy of Albertsons

For days when you know you won’t have much time between appointments to eat an actual meal, keep items in your bag or car like O Organics® mixed nuts, O Organics popcorn, O Organics fresh fruit, or protein bars. That will prevent you from getting hangry and whipping into the closest fast food chain. Items that need to be refrigerated, like string cheese, O Organics yogurt, and frozen meals, can be stowed in a refrigerator at work or school, or an insulated lunchbox.

Baby carrots with individually packaged containers of hummus or veggie dip is a great choice if you’re too busy to cook but also not behind the wheel of a car, because that particular snack requires both hands. Personally, I like to pack crackers and cheese, cucumber slices, and cherry tomatoes to snack on if I’m waiting in a parking lot (I find myself doing this a lot) or sitting at my desk, waiting for a Zoom call to start.

Photo courtesy of Albertsons

Another, more industrious option is to make a double batch of fiber-filled chewy chocolate chip cookies. This particular recipe includes quinoa and applesauce, so obviously they’re healthy. These cookies are delicious fresh out of the oven or for several days afterwards—you can even freeze them!

Main Ingredients

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375º. In a food processor, pulse 1 cup of the oats about 7-8 times to a finer consistency.

Step 2

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and evenly incorporate.

Step 3

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Drop by rounded tablespoon full drops onto baking sheet. Use spoon to slightly flatten the top of the cookies.

Step 4

Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheet for 1 minute before placing on a baking rack to cool.

Hydration! Don’t forget hydration. I have a terrible habit of grabbing a cup of coffee when I feel worn out, when I’m actually on the struggle bus because my body needs water. Keep a refillable water bottle handy—and use it!

In review: the first key to staying healthy when you feel like you’re way too busy to stay healthy is always being prepared with nutritious snacks within reach, both in and out of your home. The second is having items on hand to whip together a homemade meal quickly, and the third key to staying on track is to bake plenty of cookies.

Lucky for you, O Organics, only available at Albertsons and their sister stores— Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, ACME, Shaw’s, Star Market, Tom Thumb, Randalls and Pavilions, can help with with every single one of these, so you can be merrily on your way to your next meeting with a bounce in your step.

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Kid Cudi Gave His Fans An Update On His Planned Retirement From Making Music As Kid Cudi

Kid Cudi sounded the alarms last month after dropping Entergalactic, his eighth studio album, and its accompanying Netflix animated special and signaling that it could be the last the world hears from Scott Mescudi as Kid Cudi.

“The Kid Cudi stuff, I think kind of I wanna put it on the back burner, and I think I kind of wanna be done with it,” he told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, who asked for clarification over Cudi would be over for good or just for now. “Done with it. I think, closing the chapter on Kid Cudi. I’ve just made a lot of music, man. I’ve said a lot. I have other desires. I have other things I wanna do. I do not see me never making music. […] But as far as getting in the studio and working on an album and then going and touring it? I just don’t have it in me. I don’t have the desire.”

Well, he has at least one more album cycle in him.

“Im doin 1 more album and then im done w my deal and not sure what ima do after that but yea, 1 more,” Cudi tweeted yesterday (November 6). “Wont be next year. Keep u posted.” He added in another tweet, “This is for all my fans that have been ridin w me for so long. This will be all new music. The songs ive teased ill prolly put out as singles here and there to hold u over.”

In late October, Cudi revived his old material by releasing a KAWS-designed Man On The Moon trilogy vinyl box set and merchandise. Add it all to the memoir.

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The New ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ Trailer Promises An Even ‘Twistier’ Whodunnit

Netflix has unveiled a new trailer for the highly anticipated sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which re-teams writer/director Rian Johnson with actor Daniel Craig as he reprises his role of southern gentleman detective Benoit Blanc. Much like the original movie, Blanc is pitted against a gaggle of rich adversaries, but this time around the stakes are higher in every direction.

The cast is insanely stacked and so are the bank accounts of the suspects, who have been invited to a private island by Edward Norton for what was supposed to be a pretend murder mystery. Clearly, the situation takes a turn and the real game is afoot. However, Johnson recently revealed that the real secret sauce to the Knives Out sequel is not the whodunnit part, but nailing the character interactions.

“The mystery is not going to be what keeps the audience in their seats. Remember first and foremost that you’re making a movie and that it has to dramatically work before it intellectually works as a puzzle,” the writer-director told Tudum. “That’s actually still the hard part – creating a good story that feels unique and feels exciting and emotionally feels satisfying at the end.”

As for how well that approached work? Pretty darn good. Glass Onion has already earned rave reviews from an advance screening at the Toronto Film Festival, and one look at the new trailer shows a cast that definitely came to play.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery premieres December 23 on Netflix.

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All The Best New Music From This Week That You Need To Hear

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Drake and 21 Savage come through with a controversial release and Selena Gomez get as vulnerable as ever. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters. Also find our Uproxx HQ Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly with the best new music, at the end of this post.

Drake and 21 Savage — “Circo Loco”

People sure are talking about Drake and 21 Savage’s new album Her Loss, mostly because of perceived shots fired at Megan Thee Stallion on “Circo Loco.” What has perhaps flown under the radar about the track, at least in terms of popular discussion, is that it’s built on a sample of Daft Punk’s “One More Time” (which itself samples “More Spell On You” by Eddie Johns).

Selena Gomez — “My Mind & Me”

Gomez is fresh off the release of her new documentary My Mind & Me, which sees her really pulling back the curtain on some personal things. Naturally, her song of the same name is similarly spirited, but in powerful ballad form.

JID — “2007”

When JID originally released The Forever Story, it was supposed to conclude with the emotional “2007,” which featured his father, J. Cole, and Dreamville president Ib Hamad. Sadly, sample clearance issues prevented that from happening. Now, though, it appears everything has been worked out, as “2007” has officially been added to the album.

Brockhampton — “Big P*ssy”

Brockhampton is working on wrapping things up, with their final album, The Family, dropping later this month. They previewed it last week with “Big P*ssy” and Uproxx’s Alex Gonzalez notes that on the track, “Kevin Abstract delivers outlandish bars over horn-driven production by Bearface.”

Burna Boy — “Alone”

Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” is the obvious highlight of the new Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. Now that the whole album is out, there, there are plenty of other standouts, too, like Burna Boy’s evocative contribution, “Alone.”

Gorillaz — “Baby Queen”

Gorillaz have been super productive in recent years and they’ll keep that going with Cracker Island, a new album set for 2023. They’ve offered some looks at the LP so far and shared another one last week: “Baby Queen,” a synth-driven tune inspired by an actual encounter with real-life royalty.

Ciara – “Better Thangs (Remix)” Feat. Summer Walker and GloRilla

GloRilla is a major rising star right now and Ciara wants in. So, she revamped her recent Summer Walker collaboration “Better Thangs” to get GloRilla on a smooth new remix.

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie — “Ballin”

Video games have become venues for debuting new music, like last week when A Boogie’s latest, “Ballin,” premiered in NBA 2K23. He then gave the track a more proper release and naturally, it’s full of basketball references, like, “I’m ballin’ like LeBron son / They want me to lose my breath / So I got to watch my step / Two 30s on my hip / I call ’em Steph and Seth.”

Joji — “Die For You”

Joji’s new album Smithereens got off to an exceptionally strong start with lead single “Glimpse Of Us,” which now has over 600 million streams on Spotify. The full album dropped on Friday and with it “Die For You,” the sort of atmospheric and emotional ballad that’s right in Joji’s wheelhouse.

Yves Tumor — “God Is A Circle”

2020’s Heaven To A Tortured Mind was one the year’s best-received albums and Yves is maintaining the standard of excellence with last week’s “God Is A Circle.” The tune is a subtly unsettling rocker, chugging forward with a consistent rhythm propelled by guitar riffs and creepy breathing.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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Underground Rap Mainstay Tame One Has Died At 52

New Jersey rapper and underground rap mainstay Tame One, born Rahem Brown, has died, according to NJ.com and several sources close to him. He was 52 years old.

Tame One rose to prominence in the late ’90s as a member of the trio Artifacts with El De Sensai and DJ Kaos, which held a place of high regard in the so-called backpack rap movement of the era. In addition, he was a prominent member of several other groups including The Weathermen, and released nine solo albums. Tame One was also an avid graffiti artist, paying homage to the artform with his music and distinctive Tame One tag.

According to a Facebook post from Darlene Brown Harris, Tame One’s mother, “The medical examiner says the six pharmaceutical drugs that Trinitas hospital prescribed to him last Friday, combined with the weed he smoked over this weekend…his heart simply gave out. I will not be responding to all the posts for a bit, but the hardest words I will ever post or say is, my son, my heart, is dead.”

Tame One trended on Twitter following the news of his death as rap peers and fans alike expressed their grief and dismay at his passing. It was clear that his influence was widespread and that he will be missed.

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Ryan Coogler On The Pain, Loss, And Triumph Of ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

It’s nearly impossible to know what Ryan Coogler went through trying to make Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I’ve been calling this movie a miracle because it’s truly remarkable what Coogler has done here. Combining the emotional toll of losing Chadwick Boseman – a friend and collaborator – with the logistical reality of no longer having the lead actor and character for one of the most popular franchises in existence is devastating and, in normal situations, there’s no way it would continue. But Black Panther is not a normal franchise. The importance of this character, coupled with what Chadwick Boseman meant to people … it’s as if sheer will itself got this sequel made. Even though, as Coogler admits, he started from a place where he thought there was just no way he could even attempt to do this.

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, T’Challa is gone and Wakanda must still move on. The world is now aware of Wakanda’s precious metal, Vibranium, which has created a threat to Wakanda as other nations seek to steal the precious metal, or, in the United State’s case, create a Vibranium detector, which was thought to be impossible. As it turns out, Wakanda isn’t the only place with Vibranium, the underwater city of Talokan has thrived, undetected, for centuries, but now their community is at risk and their leader, Namor (Tenoch Huerta), blames Wakanda and, in exchange for not waging war, he wants the scientist who created the Vibranium detector killed. This “scientist” is a student at MIT named Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), which forces Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) out on a quest to save her.

Ahead, Coogler says Namor was always part of the script, and Boseman was a collaborator on what Namor should represent in terms of Indigenous Meso-American representation. Namor is not a villain. He’s actually got a point during the events of Wakanda Forever, which makes his case compelling. Coogler explains all the intricacies that went into making Namor just right, which he credits to, “a lot of hard work.”

But first, he talks about Chadwick Boseman. I can’t imagine Coogler was looking forward to doing press for a movie that there’s no doubt took an emotional toll on him. And being aware of all that, it did bring some need levity to start off with, when Coogler, at the nudging of his publicist, started out with a joke on me. (Coogler’s publicist (Bebe Lerner) also reps Jason Reitman, and the last time Reitman and I spoke, we spent a probably unhealthy amount of time talking about The Garbage Pails Kids Movie.)

Ryan Coogler: Hey, what’s up, Mike? Somebody asked me to ask you about what you know about Garbage Pail Kids.

Wait, what … was this Jason Reitman?

[Laughs] No, it was Bebe.

Ah, okay, this makes sense now … yeah somehow Garbage Pail Kids comes up every time I talk to Jason Reitman, and then I hear about it from Bebe.

Wow. I remember the Garbage Pail Kids.

But seriously, all things considered, this movie is a miracle. Was there ever a point, right after the terrible news, you thought you couldn’t do it?

Yeah… Yeah, absolutely. I was in shock. Followed by just… deep sadness. You know what I’m saying? It would’ve been that for me, even if I wasn’t spending every waking hour writing the script for the guy for the past several months. But it was amplified by that because I was just in my office for days on end imagining writing words that only he could say. That he would be excited to do and audiences would be excited to see him perform and putting him in situations.

I was having check-ins with him, letting him know what we were going to tackle in the film. He was excited about the potential for indigenous American representation and what that could mean. He always had an incredible insight for how the audience would respond to things. I was excited to get to work with him. Then, when you’re expecting somebody to be around, you don’t take the time to appreciate what they mean to you. It’s one of the more profound realities about our relationships as mortal beings. You know what I’m saying?

I do.

You don’t reflect on what somebody means to you, the space that they occupy in your mind and your heart until you no longer have access to them.

Once you decide, okay, I’m doing this, was everything on the table still? Was there any actual serious thought to recasting? I don’t even know how you could that. What you wound up doing seems like the perfect choice.

I’ll put it to you like this … I’ll put it to you like this: it’s actually difficult to have that conversation with people who don’t know us and weren’t there when we made the first one. I actually understand that, I extend grace to people as best I can because I know that they would never get it. You know what I mean?

Right.

Unless you were there with us for those several hundred days and years, you wouldn’t understand what he meant to us. You wouldn’t understand what he meant to the chosen family that was the people that made that movie. I get it, from a distance, somebody might say, “Hey, why didn’t you all do this?”

To me, it wouldn’t make any sense, but people were saying that was an option and I didn’t get that.

People are prisoners of their own perspectives. Your perspective is all you have. I get it. We were there. We are the ones who made it with him. He was an irreplaceable person, it’s as simple as that. For us, because we came to know him, because we came to know him through the process of creating that work, the two are very much linked for us. Maybe not for other people, but for us it is. To answer the question, was that ever seriously considered? It’s difficult to say if it was ever seriously considered. We considered just about everything, but like I said, I considered not making another one or taking myself out of the picture. We ran the gamut of thoughts, but we wouldn’t make a good movie that way. You know what I’m saying? It’s the truth. I don’t know that we would’ve made a movie at all.

It is weird to switch gears from such a subject like that, but I do have to tell you, the deception of Namor (Tenoch Huerta) is so great in this movie.

How nice of you to say.

I’ve always loved Sub-Mariner and I’ve been reading his books again, just getting ready for this movie. I couldn’t figure out how you’d pull him off because he’s such a blowhard in the comics.

[Laughs] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How’d you do that? Was he always going to be the villain, even before? Actually, I would say antagonist. He’s not even a villain.

Yeah, yeah, antagonist is the correct word, I would say. And he always was. He always was the antagonist in this version, since I signed on to do another one. It was something that the studio was excited about. It was something that Chadwick was excited about. Fairly early into the process, we settled on him building a culture out of Indigenous Meso-American influences. We were always excited about that. Chadwick was excited about that. That was present in that original script that was written before Chadwick passed away. Yeah, how we pulled it off? A lot of hard work. I have incredible collaborators. My co-writer is Joe Robert Cole.

Yeah, I talked to him for the first Black Panther movie.

Obviously, Nate Moore was present, Kyana Davidson was present from Marvel and Kevin Feige and Victoria Alonso and Lou D’Esposito. It was a team effort.

Well, Namor has a point. You can see his point of view. There’s a point in the movie where he feels betrayed by Ramonda and he’s not wrong.

No, no, for sure, for sure. The thing is about Namor, is that we’re consistent. The technical side of what we do is just we’re doing an adaptation, and this character has been around for almost 100 years.

Yeah, since 1939.

He hasn’t been represented in film or television yet. It was like, okay, so what are the things about him that are consistent? He’s got wings on his ankles, he’s got dark hair, he can fly. He’s really strong. He’s very arrogant.

I love the wings. Did anyone try to talk you out it?

No.

Okay, good.

No. I do think that having Aquaman out in the world, in film language, and being successful in the marketplace, I think it was a great bit of indirect guidance for us to lean into the things that made Namor different from Aquaman. Just out of respect to the audience because a lot of people saw that movie. A lot of people love that movie. It was our task to, obviously, put our heads down and blinders on and make our movie, but also have a sense of awareness of what the marketplace might want to respond to, and might be interested in. I think giving people something different, if you can give somebody something good, that’s also unique, I think it’s always better. We wanted to lean into the things that make those two characters different from each other because they have a lot of other similarities in publishing.

For us, it was like, Yo, you got to wear the green trunks. He’s got to have his winged ankles. He’s got to be relatively arrogant. He has to be long-lived. He’s got to be a child of two worlds, not really fitting into either one. He has to be very confident and very dangerous. In the comics, Namor can always back up what he’s saying.

That’s true.

It’s always interesting. He has to be charismatic. Namor, in the comics, is very romantic. He hits on other people’s wives, you know what I’m saying?

I do, he hits on Sue Storm quite often.

Yeah! This character, he had to have all of these things to him, but we’re making a Black Panther movie, so what are our tones? What are our themes? What are the themes that we like to plant our flag in and say, This is what we do that nobody else does? Through that, the cultural specificity comes about. The gray area comes about: this idea of a family drama mixed with a geopolitical thriller, mixed with a little bit of crime film. These are secret societies, in a way, where deals are made eye-to-eye, face-to-face, and nobody else needs to know, and slap that idea of all those things.

And it’s a film about motherhood and the idea that that was his most impactful relationship. Through the story of him and his mom, and her life and her death, that impacted his view of the world. That gave us the other element of Namor in the publishing, its extreme xenophobia. You know what I mean? It’s this idea of, “it’s us and it’s everybody else.” And him seeing the world that way. I thought if we could capture all of those things in this guy and make him someone that you would care about, in a way, then we can have something special. That was what we went after.

Well, you did it.

I thank my collaborators for any success it had. It wasn’t anything on my own.

Well, like I said, with everything you had to deal with, this movie is a miracle. I know it probably took 10 years off your life, but I’m so glad you made it.

[Laughs] I appreciate the empathy, bro. It means a lot.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.