As Zack Snyder continues to share photos from his time in Warner Bros.' DCEU to Instagram, these latest shots spotlights Amber Heard as Y'Mera Xebella Challa, better known as Mera, and Henry Cavill as Superman.
Heard debuted as the Atlantean warrior and Athur Curry's love-interest in Justice League, before reprising the role in Aquaman and sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. In Snyder's extended cut of JL, Mera appeared in the "Knightmare" epilogue alongside Batman, Deathstroke, Cyborg, The Flash, and The Joker.
Back in 2022, Heard claimed that Warner Bros. didn't want her to return for the Aquaman sequel at all.
Reports had indicated that the studio had concerns about bringing the actress back because of what was seen as a "lack of chemistry" with leading man Jason Momoa. Whether that's true or not, Heard admitted that she had to fight "really hard to stay in the movie."
This came to light during the ongoing defamation trial between Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp. When asked if she participated in shooting James Wan's sequel, Heard said, "They didn't want to include me in the film," before adding that she now has "A very pared down version of that role."
"I was given a script," she continued. "Then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoilers away. Two characters fighting with one another. They basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch."
Heard ended up with a reduced role, although she did have more screen-time than we expected, as rumors had done the rounds that Mera was going to be killed off in the first act.
Snyder shared the photo of Cavill, which was taken during filming on Man of Steel, to mark hitting 400,000 followers.
Should we be reading anything into Snyder sharing these photos? Probably not. Though speculation has been fuelled by the potential Warner Bros. Discovery sale and recent developments surrounding Comcast or Paramount reportedly enlisting financial backing from Saudi Arabia, the "SnyderVerse" is highly unlikely to return. Snyder does seem to be leaning into the renewed furore with these posts, however, and certainly hasn't done much to dissuade his supporters from continuing their campaign.
The fact of the matter is, Superman was enough of a success for WB to greenlight Man of Tomorrow, and there are numerous other DCU projects currently in various stages of development. Do you really think that the studio is going to scrap an entire slate because a vocal minority of fans want Zack Snyder to direct Justice League 2?