Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to be one of the final films of the current DC film universe before the new DCU is launched, and with that comes many questions. But one of the biggest questions we've had for a long time was just how Amber Heard would fit into the new film. CinemaCon attendees now have at least part of the answer as they have gotten the first look at the footage, which included Heard's Mera.
CinemaBlend is in attendance at CinemaCon, with today's WB presentation revealing the first scenes of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. While the majority of the footage was dedicated to Aquaman and Orm, and the internal battles they have while trying to unite against Black Manta who is trying to unleash some ancient evil, the audience also got a look at Mera. In the footage shown, one shot shows Mera punching the window out of an underwater craft in order to get inside, and a second shot has her firing a blast from her trident. It certainly appears Mera will be in some trouble.
Amber Heard and her performance in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom became a surprisingly important part of the actress' defamation case against Johnny Depp last year. Indications are that Heard's role in the Aquaman sequel is significantly smaller than her role in the first film. Her lawyers claimed this was in part due to a campaign against her. Executives at WB testified it was due to a perceived lack of chemistry between herself and Jason Momoa.
There was a petition started asking WB to fire Amber Heard, but there was never any indication such a thing was taken seriously, though there were rumors that Heard had been cut from the film. We now know with certainty that's not the case.
Rumors have implied that Heard's character may get injured early on in the new Aquaman movie, and this is why her role is not more substantial. While the scenes shown at CinemaCon don't directly confirm that rumor, they don't refute refute it either. The footage that showed Mera in trouble could just as easily come from later in the film than early in it as it doesn't sound like there was enough context to be sure.
However, the fact that Mera was a very small part of the footage shown at CinemaCon is perhaps confirmation that one way or another, she won't be a significant part of the film overall. She's not shown in any of the scenes with Aquaman and Orm, who appear to be largely sharing the spotlight in the new film.
There is a lot more to be shown of course. With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom set to open in December we'll probably get our first official trailers in late summer. They may give us a better indication of exactly how the various characters fit together.
