Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director James Wan has commented on Amber Heard’s role as Mera in the upcoming DC sequel.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Wan addressed comments Heard previously made regarding her “very pared-down” role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. “I always pitched this to everyone from the get-go,” Wan said. “The first Aquaman was Arthur and Mera’s journey. The second movie was always going to be Arthur and Orm. So, the first was a romance action-adventure movie, the second one is a bromance action-adventure movie. We’ll leave it at that.”
In May 2022, Heard claimed (via Entertainment Weekly) that Warner Bros. “didn’t want to include [her] at all” in the second installment of DC’s Aquaman franchise after her career was damaged by ex-husband Johnny Depp’s “smear campaign” against her.
“I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it,” Heard said at the time. “[The scenes] depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another. And they basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch out.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom arrives this December
How much of a presence Heard truly has in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom remains to be seen when the film releases this December. The movie also stars Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, and Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin.
“Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all,” the official Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom synopsis reads. “This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom opens in theaters on December 20, 2023.
