Why Amber Heard's Mera Has A Reduced Role In Aquaman 2
"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is arriving in December, bringing Jason Momoa back as Arthur Curry. It's been a full five years since the first "Aquaman" became the biggest DC movie ever. Now, James Wan is back behind the camera for another massive, globe-trotting adventure. Much has been made thus far of Amber Heard's Mera, who will be reprising her role in the sequel, albeit in a more limited capacity. She won't be a main character this time around. As for why that is? Wan has addressed it head-on.
In the December issue of Empire Magazine, the filmmaker spoke about the long-awaited "Aquaman" sequel and, specifically, touched on the Mera situation. During her highly public court case with her ex-husband Johnny Depp, Heard claimed her role in the sequel was a "pared-down version" of what she was originally pitched, and that the studio "didn't want to include her" following the divorce. According to Wan, that simply isn't the case. It had much more to do with what he envisioned for the sequel, which was more bromance than romance. Here's what he had to say about it:
"It's fair that [Heard] said that [about the character being pared down]. Because she wasn't in my head as I was working on this movie. Actors don't necessarily know what we [directors] behind the scenes are thinking about. But this was always my plan. From the start, I pitched that the first film would be a Romancing The Stone-type thing – an action-adventure romantic comedy – while the second would be an outright buddy comedy. I wanted to do Tango & Cash!"
For what it's worth, Mera hardly appears in the trailer for the film. Instead, Aquaman spends a lot more time with his brother Orm, once again played by Patrick Wilson.
Less romance more Tango & Cash
In fairness to Wan, he has been pretty clear about his feelings on the matter for as long as he's been publicly talking about the film. Last month during a trailer launch event, the director made similar comments. "I want to be respectful to all the characters in this and try and do everyone justice," Wan said at the time before adding, "I felt like I told the Arthur and Mera story in the first one, that I can also just focus on Arthur and Orm in this one." That certainly seems reasonable enough, as the brothers will be reluctantly teaming up to take on a much more powerful Black Manta, once again played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
This is, sad to say, just one element of what has been a pretty messy situation thus far. The sequel to Warner Bros.' $1 billion box office hit has been hit with roadblocks every step of the way. The pandemic was just the first one. Now, the DC Universe is facing a reboot, all three live-action DC movies flopped theatrically this year, and there have been persistent reports of a messy production behind the scenes. Wan has had to weather quite the storm to get this movie across the finish line. We'll see if that pays off soon enough.
David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick returned to pen the screenplay for the sequel, working from a story he cooked up with Wan, Momoa, and Thomas Pa'a Sibbett. The cast also includes Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, and Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin.
"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" hits theaters on December 20, 2023.