As if representing the undersea people of the Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn’t daunting enough, Tenoch Huerta faced a tidal wave of appreciation and adoration when he stepped onto the stage for his spotlight panel at C2E2 2023 this Sunday — and dealt with it in such a way that demonstrated once again what makes him the ideal Namor for the MCU.

“This was a big role. It’s a big responsibility,” Huerta says of his reservations on taking on the role of Namor in 2021’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. “It’s not just because it’s Marvel — it’s all the dreams, all the people who wanted this character. They were expecting something different, and Ryan [Coogler, director and co-writer of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever] decided to make the character Mayan, and that was a big responsibility.”

Nonetheless, nervousness about the responsibility didn’t stop him from taking on the role, for one simple reason: the actor believed it might be his only opportunity for a project so big. “For me, especially with my background — I come from the hood. We don’t have too many possibilities in our lives. We have one shot, and we take it all the time,” he tells the crowd. “If I reject this kind of opportunity, I don’t have a second chance. So you should take it, and you should do it.”

It helped that he saw parts of himself in the role of Namor, as he explains in response to a fan question.

“He’s trying to protect his people. He’s fighting for what he considers the best and I can feel really connected to that part of the character… [his being], in a way, a good father,” Huerta said. Namor’s style of ruling is also something that he found a kinship in: “He loves his people too much, and he never considers himself different from the people. When we talked about the kind of king he was, it was horizontal,” he explained. “He is the ruler, but to rule you need to serve. He is the first servant of his people. I tried to create a character who is serving the people; he’s a different example than the European royalty.”

Huerta said that he can understand Namor’s attitude, personally: “I don’t feel more special than anybody else, the only thing is, I’m famous, but that doesn’t mean anything, I’m a human being.”

As should only be expected, a number of fans also asked about future plans for Namor in the MCU, but Huerta admits that he didn’t know anything more than anyone else… and, in fact, less than many. “Basically all the information I received for my character comes from memes,” he jokes. “I’m waiting for the crossover with the Little Mermaid or SpongeBob.”

Something that he’s more comfortable with is talking about dream projects. “I have two big dreams,” he reveals. “Maybe in the future, I want to create a trilogy about the Mesoamerican cultures in [their prime]. And a Star Wars!”

Did you hear that, Lucasfilm? You have your next leading man ready whenever you want.

Check out Popverse’s coverage from Chicago’s C2E2 right here.