Amber Heard played Mera in Justice League and Aquaman, and even reprised the role for additional scenes added to Zack Snyder's Justice League.
The response to her portrayal of the character had its fans and detractors, but as her legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp rages on, the tide has turned and a petition demanding her removal from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has attracted millions of signees. That recent trial, meanwhile, confirmed that Heard's role in the sequel has been significantly reduced.
That petition doesn't appear to have factored into that decision, with it instead put down to a lack of chemistry with Jason Momoa. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but someone who had nothing bad to say about Heard is her Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom co-star Dolph Lundgren.
"She was great. I worked with her on the first Aquaman, now the second one. We shot last fall in London. She’s terrific, I had a great experience with her," he told TMZ during a recent interview. "She was very kind, nice to the crew, nice to everybody, just down to earth. She had her newborn baby with her on set with the nanny which was kind of cute."
No matter what your feelings on Heard are, the big losers here are fans of Mera. If Warner Bros. decides against recasting the character for Aquaman 3, then her story will have reached a premature end, and that does the hero a disservice. As it stands, Mera is already being sidelined in the sequel, with the focus instead shifting to a team-up with Arthur Curry and Ocean Master.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to splash down in theaters on March 17, 2023.
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