Mera is a Strong, Independent Hero in ‘Aquaman’

Her name might not be in the title but Amber Heard‘s Mera character in Aquaman is going to be a worthy, strong, and independent hero.

Visiting the Australian set of Aquaman in July of 2017, ComicBook.com got looks a Heard’s Mera first hand as she guided Arthur Curry on a mission during a scene being shot on the day. While Jason Momoa‘s Arthur Curry acted a bit brutish in a sequence which will see a hologram deliver the two a message regarding their search for the Trident, Heard’s Mera is the level-headed counter who keeps them focused.

“She’s a leader. She has integrity,” Heard said. “Her and Arthur are very different, in fact, that’s part of what causes a lot of, you know, they don’t necessarily fit at the beginning. They’re constantly going back and forth and they earn this relationship with one another throughout the film as they learn to respect each other, given their vastly different approaches to life. Mera, for instance, unlike Arthur, has a very solid constitution, a strong sense of self, who she is, what her role is, what her position is. And the sense of duty and honor that she uses to approach all of the situations of her life is one that I respect and really like, and I admire that.”

As if ripped from the pages of DC Comics, Mera’s abilities will be exploited after Justice League merely teased a slightly different version of them. In Aquaman, moviegoers will see Mera make full use of her aquakinetic powers and more.

“Mera’s her own woman. She’s her own superhero,” Heard said. “She’s not Aquawoman. She’s Mera. Part of what got me, you know when I first talked to Zack [Snyder] on the phone about the prospect of doing this film, he said, ‘She’s a warrior queen.’ Basically, you get a sword and a crown. And I was like, ‘Okay, you know how to pitch to your audience.’

Mera and Aquaman‘s relationship, though a driving force of the film’s narrative through their dynamic, is certainly not steering via romance.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call it in this movie a love story,” producer Peter Safran said. “The whole movie is in the vein of Indiana Jones. Y’know, James [Wan] wanted to tell this swashbuckling, fun, quest movie. It’s a great time for everybody to see. So, the relationship is a little bit Michael Douglas-Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, which is ultimately a romantic action movie. But, I wouldn’t say it’s actually a romance. There is a great antagonism, because of the places they come from. She is all about duty and honor and he’s all about looking out for number one. And, I think what they both realize over the course of their journey-y’know, he harbors such anger toward Atlantis for killing his mother. He learns that he shouldn’t judge the entirety of Atlantis based on the actions of one man and she learns that the surface world is a place that’s really worth preserving and finding a way to coexist.”
Aquaman

Aquaman hits theaters on December 21, 2018. For more details from ComicBook.com’s visit to the film’s set, check out ComicBook.com/DC or follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter!