Amber Heard’s role in the Aquaman sequel has been a constant discussion among DC fans. She starred as Mera, the princess of Xebel and Arthur Curry’s love interest in the 2018 film, and has reprised her role in the recently released Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. However, her presence in the sequel has been notably minimized. In contrast to her essential role in the original film, Mera is now relegated to a tertiary character with limited dialogue and screen time.
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Amber Heard’s Diminished Role in Aquaman 2
Reprising her role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Amber Heard returns as Mera, who is now married to Arthur Curry and shares a baby boy with him. While she featured alongside Jason Momoa in the 2018 film, the sequel has cut down on her screen time.
As per Business Insider, Heard has a limited appearance in the movie, estimated to be around 20 minutes, with merely 11 lines in the film. Mera has been sidelined for most of the film and is reportedly seen in a few action sequences within specific segments of the movie.
However, her appearance in the film is still being described as “contractual,” as the actress had a 3 picture deal with the studio, those being Justice League, Aquaman, and its sequel. Aquaman 2 primarily focuses on Arthur and Orm as they team up to defeat Black Manta.
The Rum Diary actress has earlier claimed that her role in the sequel was scaled down. However, the former president of Warner Bros.’ DC Films, Walter Hamada, denied such claims, stating that she was never supposed to co-lead the film with Momoa.
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James Wan Claimed Amber Heard Did Not Have a Big Role in Aquaman 2
An earlier report from Variety alleged that at least two scenes of Amber Heard have been removed from the Aquaman sequel. One of these scenes included an action sequence with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta and a love scene with Jason Momoa.
After Walter Hamada, the film’s director, James Wan also declined such claims, as he shared that the sequel was always set to be a “bromance action-adventure,” focusing on Arthur Curry and Orm. He told Entertainment Weekly in an interview,
“I always pitched this to everyone from the get-go. The first Aquaman was Arthur and Mera’s journey. The second movie was always going to be Arthur and Orm.”
Aquaman 2 has been through several challenges, including a boycott threat after fans asked the studio to drop Heard and its characters potentially not having a future due to James Gunn’s DC reboot. The movie has received mixed reviews and has been underperforming at the box office.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is playing in theatres.
