Amber Heard teases Mera’s relationship with Arthur in Aquaman, confirming that the characters are equal partners and despite being attracted to one another, aren’t going to be lovers. Fans saw hints of the two’s dynamic during Mera’s short cameo in Justice League, but with a full film devoted to exploring Atlantis, it’s safe to assume the James Wan-directed flick will heavily focus on the two’s bond considering their relationship is poised to be one of the pivotal relationships in the DCEU moving forward.
Speaking with Collider during the film’s set visit, Heard talked about what fans can expect from the relationship between Mera and Arthur in the film. However, as it turns out, people shouldn’t anticipate that Aquaman will focus on developing a romantic relationship, instead, the pair’s dynamic will be more of a partnership as they both deal with more pressing issues in Atlantis.
The thing I really like about this is I feel it has a more modern approach, I think, to what would otherwise be a more classic superhero formula. This is very much a story where they are equal partners. Because they come from different worlds, their strengths are very different. Where one excels in one world, the other is a fish out of water. Pun intended. [Laughs] I guess I’ll be saying that a whole lot. Just gonna get used to owning it! But it’s true. Mera, when she’s on the surface world, it’s very much an alien world to her. Same way that when Arthur is in Atlantis, he’s completely out of his element. But we both excel at being in our own worlds, and because we have our own identities and because our identities are tied up in who we are in our respective worlds, we share equal responsibility in the journey.
Amber Heard continued by further teasing the importance of her character in the story, emphasizing how Mera isn’t the stereotypical female character who needs a man to be saved. In fact, there are times that she’s going to be the one saving Arthur.
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.
Heard debuted as Mera in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, though she was only on screen for a few minutes. Aquaman will see her playing a much larger role in the DC Extended Universe.
Aquaman will be in theaters December 21.
