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Namor lost much of his reputation in the 616 over the years, but in the 1610 world he is one of Ultimate Marvel’s most powerful beings.
In the world of Ultimate Marvel, the classic heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe were updated in a way that let some characters reassert themselves as Marvel’s strongest heroes, outside of a world where power creep had taken dozens of new characters to cosmic levels of power. As much as any Marvel hero, Namor benefited from this. As one of Marvel’s first heroes, the Bill Everett-created character initially held a god-like status that allowed him to take on the Avengers or be one of the few who could take on the Hulk in a fistfight. But over time, there were more and more characters added to the universe that dwarfed him in power.
However, Ultimate Marvel put Namor back at the top of the proverbial food chain, establishing the Atlantean as one of the strongest beings in his reality and letting him maintain that position.
In the main Marvel Universe, Namor is an Atlantean king who is a hybrid of an underwater race of humanoids and humans. Imbued with mutant abilities that granted him flight, Namor proved early on to be an anti-hero that periodically menaced society and occasionally served as a protector. In adopting those elements to the modern reboot of Ultimate Marvel, Namor’s origins were streamlined by Mark Millar and Greg Land in Ultimate Fantastic Four, which made no mention of his hybrid or mutant status.
Rather than a king, Namor was a prisoner locked away for thousands of years where he survived the destruction of Atlantis and was only freed when the Fantastic Four found him in Ultimate Fantastic Four #24. Namor immediately proved how powerful he was. Unleashing waves of water that rocked ships far above his prison, the formidable Atlantean entered into combat with the Human Torch. Even while he was still weakened he resisted the Fantastic Four for a few moments before they could incapacitate him. Suspecting he could be one of the most powerful beings on the planet they put him in bindings believed capable of holding anyone alive. But as soon as Namor awakened, he broke free.
He went on to singlehandedly defeat the Fantastic Four, survive the Human Torch’s nova-level heat, and destroy two of Reed’s most powerful inventions before threatening New York City with a portion of the ocean so vast it towered over skyscrapers. He was an indomitable physical threat and all the while wielded hydrokinetic abilities that made him more dangerous than Thor or Magneto. At the end of the arc, NYC only saw salvation when Namor elected to walk away, and from thereafter he primarily kept to himself without menacing society again.
While this Namor never followed through on his threat to flood New York as the main Marvel Universe Namor did, this version of the Sub-Mariner is a top-tier power and has the kind of isolated status that suits a powerhouse of his magnitude. While Marvel’s main Namor arguably reached greater heights of power, he also sunk to the depths through various circumstances, which has given him one of the more inconsistent powersets in the Marvel Universe.
As a menacing force of nature that could wipe out cities, Ultimate Namor was never lost that revered status in a way that that Marvel’s primary Sub-Mariner has. With rumors that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will take its cues for Namor from the Ultimate Universe, it might not be long before a new Namor gets a chance to crash into a Marvel Universe like a tidal wave.
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