Episode 03 - Now Comes The Submariner
Original Airdate 8th October 1994

Namor, Prince Of Atlantis grows tired of surface dwellers polluting his oceans. He rises from the ocean and kidnaps Sue Storm in order from her to become his queen.

Credits
Story By: Ron Friedman, Screenplay By Elwin Ranson
Music By: Giorgio Moroder
Guest Starring: James Warwick as Namor, Neil Ross as General King
Based on Fantastic Four # 4

Review: Dating back to his origin in the 1930’s Namor has always been a weird character, who isn’t well known for his popularity. Undeniably similar to DC’s more popular and undeniably cooler Aquaman, Namor has often been accused of simply being Aquaman with darker hair and a stupid ponytail. He’s often been showcased just as much a villain as a hero, and to be blunt, as a hero I found him to be dreadfully tedious.

The only version of Namor I’ve ever really liked is the arrogant, sole survivor of Atlantis found in Ultimate Fantastic Four in which he wasn’t the Prince of Atlantis; he was locked up in a tomb as a prisoner because the people of Atlantis couldn’t control him. This shows version of Namor is utterly lame, and looks like a complete idiot. When translating to animation, it offers the perfect opportunity to update/revamp the characters if they are in dire need of it, as Namor was. Unfortunately, they gave us a character more tedious than the comic one. Add that to his stupid blue hair and dreadful dialogue and you get one of the worst characters in the history of Marvel animation.

The episode itself had fairly decent premises, but wasn’t executed as well as it should’ve been. The romantic subplots were mediocre at best, Namor seemed to reek of arrogance rather than someone who was supposedly genuinely concerned for his kingdom, and the plot was pathetically predictable. His relationship with Sue was too random to be taken seriously, not at all like the original comic version where Sue genuinely did care for Namor and often conflicted with Reed over her opinion of him. Sue here isn’t at all like the comic version – she’s the damsel in distress more often than not, something Stan Lee himself said he didn’t want her to be – Sue could easily hold her own with the rest of the group in the books, but here, she is simply laughable.

The plot is eerily similar to Justice League’s The Enemy Below, but it’s filled with stupid oddities. Why is Namor the only one who can breathe under water? How the hell does everyone else survive with those Mysterio like domes over their heads? Why are they all blue? Again, the episode reeks of a half assed effort from all involved – it’s one of the season’s worst.  

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