Since the 1940s, Marvel Comics have featured noteworthy concepts beyond its fictional characters, such as unique and immersive places. Among these were the submerged city of Atlantis and its Atlantean inhabitants. Considering himself to be the prophesied conqueror of this empire was the nomadic warlord Attuma. How much do you know about him?
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Attuma made his Marvel debut 55 years ago in Fantastic Four #33 in 1964. Raised by a barbaric tribe of Atlanteans, Attuma was mysteriously born with strength, endurance, and speed far superior to any normal Atlantean. He quickly became the leader of his tribe and declared himself the conquerer of Atlantis spoken of in an ancient prophecy. After gathering his troops, Attuma attacked Atlantis but was ultimately defeated by Namor the Submariner and his allies the Fantastic Four. This threat against the kingdom of Atlantis saw Attuma banished from the empire once more.
Not one to give up easily, Attuma and his troops continued to wage war against Atlantis and the “surface world” over the next few years. At this time he developed a super-weapon to use in invading the surface world, but was foiled by Iron Man. Later on, when Doctor Doom was assembling villains with his mind-control device, Attuma was among the baddies enlisted to destroy the Fantastic Four. To no avail, of course. In another attempt to invade the surface world, Attuma attacked using massive tidal waves. While he nearly succeeded in drowning the Avengers, the heroes eventually thwarted the Atlantean villain.
During the Atlantis Attacks crossover, Attuma teamed with Ghaur and his Deviants and Llyra and her Lemurians to attack humankind. Iron Man and Namor battled Attuma and his troops along with the superhero, Andromeda – who was revealed to be Attuma’s illegitimate daughter. In the midst of battle, Ghaur and Llyra betrayed Attuma and killed a large part of the Atlantean population. Despite this, Attuma managed to claim control of Atlantis, at least briefly. Attuma and his undersea horde would continue to try to conquer Atlantis and the surface world, without any success. Eventually, Attuma was defeated once and for all when the Sentry beheaded him.
Of course, this is the comic world, where not even a beheading is considered irrevocable. As the MCU continues to expand their worlds, who knows if the battles within the submerged empire will soon come flooding onto viewers’ screens.