Tenoch Huerta Accused Of Assault, Is Marvel Falling Apart?
Tenoch Huerta has been accused of sexual assault by musician and activist Elena Ríos.
Tenoch Huerta, who played the antagonist Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, has been hit with sexual assault allegations from a woman who was part of the same anti-racism group that Huerta belongs to. Saxophonist and feminist activist Elena Ríos has accused the actor on Twitter of sexually assaulting her and several other women. She claims that the anti-racism group, Poder Prieto, is protecting the Marvel actor.
This accusation comes after Ríos accused the group of publishing a podcast involving her without her permission — a claim that Poder Prieto denies, saying they were only linking to a podcast that was not their own production. In response to this denial, Ríos claimed that the group was defending the “predator” Tenoch Huerta. When asked whether Huerta sexually assaulted her, she replied saying that he had, along with others.
Ríos stated that she left Poder Prieto because they chose to protect Tenoch Huerta, and upon leaving, she demanded that the group not publish anything about her. It appears that Ríos believes the incident involving the podcast violates that condition of her departure, leading to her making the claims public.
No details about the alleged assaults were made public. Tenoch Huerta has not responded to the accusations made against him.
These claims against Tenoch Huerta come as another Marvel star, Jonathan Majors, faces troubling claims against him. Majors, who portrayed Kang the Conquerer in Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was arrested in March after an alleged altercation with his girlfriend, which led to misdemeanor assault, strangulation, and harassment charges. Majors’ girlfriend has been granted a protective order against the actor, but Majors’ lawyer says that they have video evidence that will prove these claims false.
The allegations against Majors have led to rumors that Marvel is looking to replace Majors as Kang. Given that Kang is meant to be the recurring villain in the latest phase of Marvel films — culminating in the already-announced 2025 film Avengers: The Kang Dynasty — these rumors imply that Marvel is willing to take accusations against its actors very seriously. However, it’s unclear whether the allegations against Tenoch Huerta will have a similar effect.
One thing complicating this case is the fact that Jonathan Majors is facing criminal charges for his actions, while no charges against Tenoch Huerta have been filed. It’s also worth noting that Huerva’s character, Prince Namor, is not confirmed to be appearing in any future Marvel films. This last fact might make it easier for Marvel to drop Huerva without raising a fuss, simply by not including the character in any future movies.
The controversies surrounding both Jonathan Majors and Tenoch Huerta come at a difficult time for Marvel Studios, which has begun slowing down the pace of its releases in response to so-called “Superhero Fatigue.” While both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever performed well for the studio, other recent releases, such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania failed to perform as well as the studio hoped.
