Why Shuri and Namor actually cannot be together like AT ALL
I know my acc was mostly about RDR, but boy how long I've been into MCU, especially Wakanda: Forever and had NO ONE to talk about it with..so am gonna drop it here casually
Y'know that thing was heard in the fandom and in interviews a lot. That...Shuri and Namor have something goin on. Even Tenoch himself said "everything could've been solved by a kiss and a hug, just like in real life", and that was the moment where i completely disagree.
Let's start with the most OBVIOUS facts. First of all. This..is politics. Unfortunately, politics cannot be solved by a kiss and a hug. Second. They just met eachother.. literally. Its was days, not even weeks, since they met eachother. They don't know eachother so good. Third. They had a major misunderstanding that led them both to the edge of international war... Fourth. Namor killed Shuri's mother.
But okay, let's talk about their relationship before everything went down the hill (even tho everything already started as a complete mess). It's true that they had this sorta dynamic going on first, the chemistry was... there. But it wasn't romantic chemistry. It's just two rulers met and found a common ground in eachother. They share the same responsibilities. Shuri was a princess, Namor is a king. They both have nations to take care of, which is a lot, and finding understanding in eachother is also a lot. They share same grief, true. They share same fears and a lot of other emotions. Like..duty and stuff. They do share a lot, and at that moment you might think "Oh they're so same", but that's a mistake. They're not the same at all. It's not "same people who handle stuff differently", it's two people with different worldviews. Sure, in the begging they were kinda bonding, y'know, kinda helping eachother, Namor showed Shuri his domain, gave her gifts, told her his story, about his people and etc. So there was a lot of common ground for the actual alliance. And this scene itself when they sit in this cave and share things, it's intimate, true.
The moment we see that they can't be together is the moment when Namor says "let us burn it together". And Shuri was like "Nah, man, you're crazy. Like you actually nuts. You're goin absolutely bonkers. Offering me the war with the surface when I'm already at the edge of international war because of major misunderstanding that was caused by your actions". And at that moment..how does Namor behave? He's offended. He acts almost like betrayed. Y'know like he finally for the first time in forever found a person who understands him, and then this person immediately betrays him. He literally says, that "Yo, bitch, y'know i was trying to be nice, but you really makes it all complicated! If you're not with me then you're against me! So if you're not gonna help me I'm gonna destroy you first because now you know way too much!". He literally threatened her immediately after she said "no" to him...
Yeah? Y'all starting to see that now, right?
And now let's talk about how different they are. And it's actually deep, cuz it goes down to the..how they were raised. And it's obvious that even tho both of them share the same.."race struggles" let's call it that, Shuri grew up in a good surroundings. She had a loving brother, she had a wonderful mother, she's smart, she's educated, she's been with people who were supporting her, protecting her, teaching her, they were here for her. She grew up experiencing love, support, protection, loyalty, care, etc. There were traditions and a strong spirit of the people of her nation, which also made her who she is. How does she handle stuff? Peacefully, with logic and analysis, she always plan what she will do, how she will do, what she need to do, and what she need for it, why she's doin stuff and etc. She knows how to handle her emotions. She controles the situation. She is aware about how things are actually are.
What Namor experienced? Everything besides the good things. He was growing up in a constant fear, threat and hate. He lost his mom, his people was under a constant threat. He grew up in the feeling that the whole world is always against him. And he also was isolated from the real world for like...5 centuries, which is important. So how does he handle stuff? Obviously, violently. Because the world taught him that you need to punch first if you don't wanna be beaten up. He's intelligent, that's true, but he's way too driven by his hatred. He's way too fast, because he thinks that there's no time to waste, cause every minute cost him the lifes of his people. Which works against him. Since he's way too eager, way too passionate, gives himself way too much credit then he actually are, and also out of touch with how things are actually works at the current moment... He sets himself up for a lose. He's takin way too big risks for his people, without realising that by taking those risks, he threatens his own people by putting them in danger. He doesn't stop for a moment to think and analyse the situation at least a little bit, which costs him a lot and he don't even realise it.
That's why Namor ends up loosing to Shuri and that's why Shuri was the first one to realise that hatred should not power them.
There can't be no love between them. Yeah, they might understand eachother in something, they might have common ground, but they're way too different to actually be together.
Your first thoughts might be like "oh so he's the brute, she's the brains. Perfect! The balance eachother". But we saw how Namor responded after Shuri tried to ground him with her logic. He doesn't listen to her until she literally almost kills him. That's not love, not even close. Not even sympathy. It's understanding and silent admiration, yes. But also way too many misunderstandings and way too different worldviews.
And the most important thing is that Shuri is not only brains, she also the fist herself. She's strong. She's able to fight. She don't need no man to fight for her when she literally wins him
And Namor is way too out of line to even understand it. Because what did he says at the end of the movie? He doesn't admit his mistakes, he doesn't even realise them. He just retreats, accepts the truce, and believes he can still use Shuri and the truce between their nations in the war with the surface world. He literally says he will use her. He doesn't care about his own mistakes; he simply admits he got beat up, but he still tries to twist the situation to his advantage. Because he cares about nothing but Talokan and his own goals.
Y'all there's no love possible. Like ever.