Update: 5/18/17
Though we’ll meet Mera in Justice League this November, director James Wan is currently hard at work on his Aquaman solo film. Today, he revealed a new photo of Amber Heard’s first day on set as the Queen of Atlantis:
https://twitter.com/creepypuppet/status/865296905244295172
Aquaman may be one of the DCEU films we’re most excited to see, if nothing else but to see what Wan does with the underwater world that Aquaman inhabits.
More about Mera’s appearance in Justice League in our original story below.
When it comes to the subject of Atlanteans in the DC Universe, it seems like everyone has jokes. Most of those come at the expense of the undersea kingdom’s ruler, Aquaman, who can talk to sea creatures telepathically and once used flying fish as an extremely goofy chariot. But when it comes to the Atlanteans in Zack Snyder’s forthcoming Justice League film, he clearly isn’t kidding around as evidenced by this first look at Amber Heard as Mera, which premiered Wednesday on IGN.
For those of you who don’t know, Heard is playing the role of Mera, the Queen of Atlantis, wife of Aquaman, and all-around badass with superhuman reflexes and the power of hydrokinesis (meaning she can manipulate water with her mind). The image below reveals Mera in her fully costumed glory in a photograph taken by Snyder himself, and holy smokes does she look awesome. Certain comic book costumes run the risk of looking slightly goofy when they make the leap to the big screen (hi, Daredevil!), but costume designer Michael Wilkinson knocked it out of the park with this form-fitting Atlantean armor.
Image: © 2016 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Zack Snyder / ™ & © DC Comics
For a quick comparison, take a look at Michael Wilkinson’s final Justice League concept art for Mera’s costume. It looks like Amber Heard walked straight off the page and on to the screen.
Image: © 2016 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc./ ™ & © DC Comics
In Justice League, Mera will play a supporting role, but is expected to play a much bigger part in James Wan’s Aquaman solo film slated for July 27, 2018. That sentence may sound like a “no duh” statement, but after seeing how badass Mera looks in this first still, I want all the Atlantis I can get. Here’s hoping they’ll fix that goofy-looking problem of Jason Momoa holding his breath underwater by 2018.
For more concept art and a time-lapse video of Wilkinson’s concept art reel for Mera’s evolving design, head over to IGN.
Justice League hits theaters on November 17, 2017.
What do you think of Mera’s newly revealed costume? Are you excited for Justice League? Let us know in the comments below!
What we learned from Zack Snyder’s Justice League BTS footage:
Image: Warner Bros./DC Comics via IGN
Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).
