Amber Heard Details Mera’s Impressive Power Set in ‘Aquaman’

Aquaman is no one to be trifled with, but after hearing Amber Heard talk about Mera, she just might be the most powerful underwater hero.

ComicBook.com caught up with Heard and the rest of the Aquaman cast during the set visit, where Mera explained how Mera’s powers work. After hearing about them Aquaman is going to be insanely jealous.

“So I control water,” Heard said. “Mera‘s power, other than just being a warrior princess in Atlantis, is that she also can control water, a power that becomes in quite handy as you will see. Not only in this scene, but it plays throughout the mission, throughout their entire journey. She relies on hydrokinesis to kind of save the world and stuff.”

As fans know from the books, Mera is in no need of being saved, something that attracted Heard to the character in the first place.

“Never,” Heard said. “And what I really love is that it does not rely on this whole damsel in distress formulaic thing we see all the time, we’ve seen a million times. He doesn’t rescue the girl and then save the world. He doesn’t — in fact, I save him. Like I said, they go on this adventure as equal partners and they end it that way. There is an element of attraction there, but it is not the thing — because they have a job to do, they have a mission to fulfill and are equal partners in the success or failure of that mission, that takes a back seat to this. Their relationship, that element is not the driving force or what brings them together.”

Mera isn’t all about powers though, as it’s her honorable traits that really define the character.

“Mera is strongly tied to — she has a strong sense of duty and responsibility that’s tied to Atlantis and her role in Atlantis,” Heard said. “She deeply cares about her position that she believes she was not just born to do, that she has worked her whole life to be able to do well. It’s not enough just to have inherited this position. Her sense of honor and duty is inartistically tied to her place in leading Atlantis and doing the right thing for her people.”

“Mera’s her own woman,” Heard continued. “She’s her own superhero. 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, ‘OK, you know how to pitch to your audience.’ Alright, I’m listening now. I don’t want to be a damsel. I’ve played a range of characters as diverse as I’ve been able to. Being a woman, especially a bit of a young woman in this industry, raising myself in this industry, it’s been limited, but I’ve done the most with what I can. Especially considering that the one thing, the one element they all have in common is that they’re driven or powerful in their own right.”

Aside from Snyder’s initial pitch, it was the comics that showed Heard how strong and independent the character of Mera is.

“I’ve not been interested in playing reactionary women or weak female characters. Mera is the definition of a strong, driven, independent woman. Aside from the whole sword and crown comment, what really sold me on this project, I was doing my research and was reading the graphic novels, and in one of the first ones I read, there’s a scene, some natural disaster in open water, a tsunami hits on the land, and of course Aquaman comes in and saves the day and civilians are like, ‘Oh my god, it’s Aquaman!’ And they turn to Mera, who has done equal work in saving this village, and they’re like, ‘Who are you? Are you Aquawoman?’ And she’s like, ‘No, I’m not Aquawoman. I’m Mera, I have my own name.’ And I was like, I like this. I like this woman. I respect it as a character, I respect it as a person. I also respect it as the average modern woman, who is sick and tired of seeing the same old, two-dimensional, reactionary, passive roles that are limited to being rescued or enchanting the male protagonist. I feel I have a lot more to offer in life and I’m bored with those characters when I watch them.”

Fans will be able to see Mera hit the big screen when Aquaman lands in theaters on December 21st, and you can find out all about the San Diego Comic-Con exclusive footage right here!