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Marvel created a 200-page bible to help bring Namor’s kingdom to life

Marvel created a 200 page bible on the history, culture, tools, architecture, and methods of travel of the Talokan people in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Namor in Black Panther Wakanda Forever

A new interview with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever VFX supervisor Chris White reveals how much planning of every little detail went into creating Talokan – the underwater world that ‘villain’ Namor inhabits. The Talokan people were given a full history.

“Talokan is a massive, massive city and it has multiple cities that are around it as well,” White told SlashFilm. “This was my first Marvel project, but as we first got on, there was a production bible of just Talokan, and it was 200 pages full of their history, their tools they built, their architecture, the influence, how they traveled through Central America.”

“It’s amazing how extensive that story was that they had created,” he continued. “[The scene in the underwater city] may go by in like four minutes or so, but they’ve thought through so much, even as we first joined. Just like everything, the culture — very extensive.” When asked if he found the ‘bible’ restrictive, White said; “I don’t think it’s overwhelming. I actually appreciated it a lot because it was like they’ve really thought through those issues. I think it helps us, but they’re also not limited by it, so we were able to offer up ideas and suggestions, and they were on board with it.”

It will be a shame if this is the last we see of Namor and the Talokan in the MCU, as such a lot of thought has gone into their backstory and the building of their world. Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta, was a sympathetic character who becomes an antagonist to Wakanda, before joining forces with the new Black Panther.

VFX supervisor Chris White works for Weta FX, who are famous for their work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as James Cameron’s Avatar. They have worked on several Marvel projects, as well as DC movies The Batman, The Suicide Squad, and Birds of Prey.

Check out our guide to Marvel’s Phase 5.