Mera Recasting Thread

[Black Narcissus]

Heard being the only AM actor invited to Wan't private wedding should answer this thread. lol

 

[Fincher]

The cleanest way to go about it is probably to just write off the character (or minimize the role) as someone suggested.

I disagree. If they recast Amber, even if they can't use the scheduling conflicts excuse, they can collectively say that she chose to take time off for personal reasons. Heard has reason to not want people to know she got fired, too. If Mera gets replaced by another love interest, there's no explaining that as anything but getting rid of her because of the situation with Depp. If they remove Mera as co-lead or even entirely and don't replace her, even if they could pass that off as a creative decision, they'll have people complaining because they sidelined a female character. What are they supposed to say in that scenario? "We support more female characters and all, like in Wonder Woman and Birds of Prey, but Mera's pretty stupid, so f*** her."

 

[kvz5]

Well, yeah, if they do end up parting ways, it’ll definitely be spun as amicable no matter what the reality was. I still feel though that recasting is a worse look PR wise than just “replacing” with a new female character. I don’t know much of the lore to make suggestions but it really doesn’t have to be a love interest as @divan suggested. I can’t imagine anyone complaining as long as it’s a great character that’s comparable to Mera (co-lead/big supporting role, capable and kick ass, etc.) But, really, I do hope it doesn’t come to that as Mera is a great character.

Funnily enough, I just found out that it’s recently Heard’s birthday because the Aquaman film’s Twitter handle made a post about it.

 

[Fincher]

Well, part of the challenge here is that Aquaman being the success that it was was a surprise. Maybe not as much as Venom, which has people confounded, but at least on SHH it doesn't seem like we know why Aquaman did so well. I mean, yeah, women are attracted to Jason Momoa, but is that enough by itself to turn a film about an unproven superhero coming off of the underperforming Justice League into a billion dollars?

So what else is there? Well, Amber Heard is also very attractive. And if you have two very attractive people leading a movie, and they have good chemistry, and theirs is a love story, well, maybe people liked the romance. To me, Aquaman was a lot like a Disney Princess movie brought to life. When I saw the trailers, I thought the aesthetic was supposed to be comic booky, but upon seeing the movie, no, it was the look of the 2D Disney movies in live action. And there's a lighthearted love story with a princess of Atlantis and a man from the surface, and she has bright red hair, and there are scenes where characters from Atlantis don't know the customs of land dwellers...sound familiar?

But let's say it wasn't a Little Mermaid thing, or even a romance thing, but just that these two are really hot. If you replace Amber Heard with some other really hot actress, even if it's not a love interest she can be read that way, especially from an outside perspective. If people see Aquaman 2 trailers with Jason Mamoa and some hot new female character, they won't know at that point that he doesn't hook up with her. To make it clear that she doesn't replace Mera in that sense you would need to not sexualize her, but if she's not sexy then maybe you kill what made the first movie such a hit in the first place.

I don't know, maybe people just wanted an underwater superhero movie, but do we really know that? If I'm a movie executive looking to turn a profit, and I'm not sure why Aquaman worked so well, my attitude would be to rock the boat as little as possible. People can say Momoa and Heard are bad actors, but Aquaman made a billion f****** dollars under those two actors. So if I can't have Amber Heard back as Mera, then I want to get as close of a substitute as I can for Amber Heard as Mera.

 

[TheScarecrow]

Heard being the only AM actor invited to Wan't private wedding should answer this thread. lol

Yes and no.

Wan has significant sway with WB, but I doubt it's Nolan level or JK Rowling level.

There's so much at play here. It is most likely to be the studio or producers who decide she is too much risk to have around. If that affects the project in terms of finance, Wan's hand could be forced.

Likewise - if Depp proves either that Heard abused him, or that Heard lied about him abusing here, he could start flexing his muscles. WB might be forced to choose between Depp and Heard having a place at the studio, if things got petty. JK Rowling has backed Depp hard and WB needs JK Rowling...

It's all very complicated, really.

At the moment it's all conjecture though, there's really no reason to remove her other than that a lot of internet folk hate her, and that has always been the case.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Yes and no.

Wan has significant sway with WB, but I doubt it's Nolan level or JK Rowling level.

There's so much at play here. It is most likely to be the studio or producers who decide she is too much risk to have around. If that affects the project in terms of finance, Wan's hand could be forced.

Likewise - if Depp proves either that Heard abused him, or that Heard lied about him abusing here, he could start flexing his muscles. WB might be forced to choose between Depp and Heard having a place at the studio, if things got petty. JK Rowling has backed Depp hard and WB needs JK Rowling...

It's all very complicated, really.

At the moment it's all conjecture though, there's really no reason to remove her other than that a lot of internet folk hate her, and that has always been the case.

Eh, I definitely think Wan has the same sway at WB as Nolan. No other recent comicbook director from their end has passed the billion mark. Nolan and Wan. Not to mention all them Conjuring flicks and spin-offs are from his camp. Probably not individually, but when you take into question his entire package, Wan is worth about the same as Nolan to their eyes imo, but that's just my take.

 

[Flash525]

I don't see them recasting Mera to be totally honest. If Amber wants out (like Affleck did) then maybe, but otherwise, I'm sure they'll stick with her simply because, despite the number of people against her, there's still a lot of people that'll go and watch her in the film simply for the sex appeal that always sells. That, and there's a large group of people that simply don't care enough about this situation.

Regarding the situation itself, it goes without saying that there are only two people who know what really went on, and that's Amber and Johnny, and neither of them are likely to come out and tell the whole truth, or even parts of it. From what we know, it was one hell of a complicated and toxic relationship where both parties probably did a lot of wrong, and then the courts got involved.

It's easy to pick a side here, what's harder (and what I think we should all challenge ourselves to do) is stay on the fence and not get involved. Nobody is ever going to know enough about the situation to have a valid opinion. One audio tape may exist of one lie, but there's most likely many other lies on both sides that aren't on audio tapes. Did she cut his finger? It would certainly appear so, but do we know why? No we don't. Not that I'm suggesting she should be let off here, but lets think about those other colours boys and girls. It's not all black and white here.

 

[divan]

Likewise - if Depp proves either that Heard abused him, or that Heard lied about him abusing here, he could start flexing his muscles. WB might be forced to choose between Depp and Heard having a place at the studio, if things got petty. JK Rowling has backed Depp hard and WB needs JK Rowling...

It's all very complicated, really.

At the moment it's all conjecture though, there's really no reason to remove her other than that a lot of internet folk hate her, and that has always been the case.

I'm not entirely sure Rowling would want to actively involve herself in something that, if I'm being honest. It's one thing to support somebody to appear in your product but actively playing power moves in somebody else's can easily backfire and harm your own public image in ways you just can't get rid of, something Rowling would want to avoid given her own image problems (given some of her statements) and the fact that at the end of the day, she wants her books and films to be succesful, not marred by more controversy that ultimately has nothing to do with her work.

 

[COCOS]

katheryn winnick who play lagerta in Vikings....i have never seen such a badass women since Sigourney weaver.....can u imagine her as Mera, could be glorious

 

[BobJM]

Deborah Ann Woll

 

[Tg11]

Bryce Dallas Howard

 

[Babillygunn]

If you write off Mera, Aquaman is gonna need a new love interest and who would it be

You could always go with Dolphin. Mera is one of the strongest, most formidable characters in DC, but Dolphin is no slouch either. Her powers would translate well on screen too.

really other than Superman, Wally West and Oliver Queen, there are very few DC characters who are almost completely linked to a single love interest (and Arrow completely ignored that relationship, ironically)

 

[Babillygunn]

And if you were casting Dolphin, I think Emilia Clarke would be beyond perfect.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Dolph Lundgren should play Dolphin

 

[Asr]

Been seeing some talk about recasting Mera recently in the media, like here (nothing official, just rumors still): ‘Aquaman 2’: Who will possibly replace Amber Heard as Mera?

I'd honestly prefer seeing Amber Heard stick around. It's annoying when characters get re-cast, and I thought she did a well enough job in the first movie.

 

[fan4stic]

Rachel Nichols

 

[Tg11]

Rachel Nichols

She is perfect for Mera

 

[Legendver2]

Warner Bros. fires Amber Heard from 'Aquaman 2': report

Not sure how reliable that is, but yea. Have fun with it

 

[Micromind]

Stopped reading after the article revealed the source as We Got This Covered.

I don't think WB will fire her, unless there's some legal ground to do so (also, if they fire her, WB should also fire Johnny Depp from Fantastic Beasts movies are both were involved in the fight.). Also, there were some reports that she recently attended James Wan's birthday party.

 

[TMP98]

Stopped reading after the article revealed the source as We Got This Covered.

I don't think WB will fire her, unless there's some legal ground to do so (also, if they fire her, WB should also fire Johnny Depp from Fantastic Beasts movies are both were involved in the fight.). Also, there were some reports that she recently attended James Wan's birthday party.

They should fire her for her bad acting tbh

 

[COCOS]

They should fire her for her bad acting tbh

i dont know what Bad acting u saw with her in aquaman, please tell me when exactly ?
some people are funny,tryin to tarnish her because of her personal behavior,when truth is her chemistry with momoa is the best thing in the movie.

for sure she's not Emma Stone level" but with the right delivery and filmmaker she did well enough

 

[Axl Van Sixx]

My take: do not recast Mera.

Amber Heard's personal life and former marriage is her business. All I can say is that I loved her as Mera in the first Aquaman and would be very disappointed to see them recast, or worse, replaced by another character.

Mera might just be the most significant "love interest" character in the DC Universe, to the point where reducing her to that is almost an insult. She tends to be portrayed as the equal of Aquaman, and indeed, in the first movie, she was the one who was knowledgeable about Atlantis and filled Arthur in on all the details.

I thought Amber was perfect for the movie, which, let's be honest, was a bit cheesy. But for me that was part of the fun. It was just a great popcorn movie and a visual treat. Of course Amber was sexy as hell as Mera, but I also thought she had great chemistry with Jason Momoa. It would be a shame to see them get rid of that, and I admit that I would be less interested in a sequel without Amber Heard. To me, she is Mera the same way that Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman and Margot Robbie is Harley Quinn.

If they do decide to drop Heard, at the very least I would suggest that they recast rather than use a new character. An Aquaman movie without Mera is like a Superman movie without Lois Lane.

 

[Babillygunn]

An Aquaman movie without Mera is like a Superman movie without Lois Lane.

Mera might just be the most significant "love interest" character in the DC Universe, to the point where reducing her to that is almost an insult.

I disagree. I don’t see Mera and Aquaman as being automatic love interests. In fact, they weren’t even married in Kingdom Come. Aquaman had Dolphin as his queen.

in truth, I probably wouldn’t recast, but I also don’t think that it’s a given that Aquaman absolutely has to have Mera as a love interest, as he has had others in the past (albeit less frequently.)

 

[TMP98]

If Heard gets convicted, it's more likely that WB would delay the film to accommodate her than they would be to re-cast. They seem to really hate re-casts for some reason

 

[Fincher]

I disagree. I don’t see Mera and Aquaman as being automatic love interests. In fact, they weren’t even married in Kingdom Come. Aquaman had Dolphin as his queen.

in truth, I probably wouldn’t recast, but I also don’t think that it’s a given that Aquaman absolutely has to have Mera as a love interest, as he has had others in the past (albeit less frequently.)

For me, it's not so much that no version of Aquaman can have a different love interest as that Mera and their relationship was so much a part of what I liked about the first movie that it would pretty much kill my interest in a sequel. I feel about it how some might feel about them taking Aquaman out of Aquaman and just having it be Mera films from now on.