Spoilers ahead for Aquaman 2.
The DCEU had a wild life in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. It all ended with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which struggled at the box office upon its release in December. James Wan's long-awaited sequel made some bold narrative swings, including a greater focus on Patrick Wilson's Orm. This seemingly came at the expense of Mera, who had a small role. Aquaman 2’s Dolph Lundgren recently mentioned Heard while lamenting about the movie's theatrical cut.
The cast of Aquaman 2 was stacked, and included a number of returning faces from the original movie. While an online petition for Heard to be removed from the movie, she still appeared... kinda. While Wan maintained that was always his plan for the movie's story, Dolph Lundgren's comments to ComicBook seem to put that timeline in doubt. As he shared:
I just realized that it was some kind of corporate decision that they try to limit Amber Heard and then I'm playing with her dad and went along with it. I was just disappointed for the moviegoers, because I thought the original script was great and the original cut -- I saw a little bit of it, it was really good, so I didn't see any reason to start reshooting and reshaping the story, which obviously led to disappointment in the moviegoers and not just me.
There you have it. It sounds like he's got some guilt about how Aquaman 2 went down, specifically related to his and Amber Heard's roles as Nereus and Mera respectively. Per this comment, it seems like there was a concerted effort to put the latter character to the side in this blockbuster. We'll have to see if the studio or filmmaker respond to this ongoing discourse.
Lundgren's comments about Amber Heard are sure to circulate online, especially for those of us who spent years watching the DC movies in order. Prior to its release, there was a ton of chatter about Aquaman 2, specifically related to the Mera actress. This is likely due to Heard and Johnny Depp's legal battle, which was messy and had an affect on both actors' careers.
In the first Aquaman movie (which is available with a Max subscription), features Mera as one of the biggest roles, with Amber Heard and Jason Momoa going on an adventure through land and sea. But in the sequel Amber Heard's Mera is injured early on, and has very limited screentime.
Since there's a new DC shared universe being formed, it seems unlikely that we'll ever see Mera in an upcoming DC movie. For her part, Heard thanked fans for their support upon the movie's release.
The DCU will start with Superman: Legacy on July 11th, 2025. In the meantime, check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
