Emilia Clarke has replaced Amber Heard as Mera from Aquaman in a stunning image.
Heard starred as Mera in the DC franchise, debuting as the character in 2017’s Justice League.
She would then appear in the first Aquaman film alongside Jason Momoa and its sequel – Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
The first film, which came out in 2018, was a box office success and grossed a staggering $1.1 billion worldwide while receiving largely positive reviews.
The Zombieland star would describe her character as ’empowered’ and ‘proactive’ in an interview with Elle.
The actress added: “That seems like a low bar to set… but let’s face it, in the entertainment industry there’s such a dearth of representation, I think it’s worth saying.”
In the DC Universe, a huge takeover has happened and a lot is changing – James Gunn, the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, and film producer Peter Safran are overseeing its future.
Addressing the DC fandom, Gunn has taken to X (formerly Twitter) and said: “We know we are not going to make every single person happy every step of the way, but we can promise everything we do is done in the service of the STORY and in the service of the DC CHARACTERS we know you cherish and we have cherished our whole lives.
“As for more answers about the future of the DCU, I will sadly have to ask you to wait. We are giving these characters and the stories the time and attention they deserve, and we ourselves still have a lot more questions to ask and answer.”
The first major change was the removal of Henry Cavill as Superman, who is a fan favourite with many.
He’s been replaced by American actor David Corenswet, who appeared in the horror film Pearl.
Gunn and Safran have also revealed that they’re envisioning a DC universe in which lesser-known characters are given a chance in the spotlight.
“One of our strategies is to take our diamond characters — which is Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman — and we use them to prop up other characters that people don’t know,” Gunn told The Hollywood Reporter.
Safran added: “To build those lesser known properties into the diamond properties of tomorrow.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was shot before the reinvention of DC, so the film was still released – and Heard returned to her role as Mera.
However, a lot of fans were not happy about this.
