Amber Heard's Mera, Aquaman's Butt-Kicking Queen, Surfaces in New 'Justice League' Art

Wonder Woman isn’t the only superpowered heroine we’ll see in action in next year’s Justice League. There’s also Mera, Aquaman’s flame-haired, fiery-tempered lover, counselor, and queen.

Today, we got our initial look at Amber Heard in character courtesy of a photo taken by director Zack Snyder and provided to IGN along with some striking concept art and sketches by the film’s costume designer, Michael Wilkinson.

This is the first we’ve seen Heard in a film role since her tabloid-dominating divorce from Johnny Depp earlier this year.

For those unfamiliar with the character, Mera has long been a part of the Atlantis power structure. Introduced in Aquaman No. 11 in 1963, she was largely a supporting player for much of her existence. But Mera turned out to have a champion in DC’s chief creative officer Geoff Johns. Johns plucked the character out of DC purgatory for a lead role in 2009’s Blackest Night storyline, in which the undersea queen helps save the DC Universe. In the years since, she has become a fixture in the comics, ruling alongside Aquaman as an equal.

As her DC bio puts it, “You don’t want to get on this quick-tempered beauty’s bad side because she won’t hesitate to kick your butt across all seven seas.” She possesses many of the same superpowers as her betrothed, but also has the nifty ability to weaponize water, forming the liquid into anything she chooses.

Related: Everything We Learned on the ‘Justice League’ Set

With Johns now elevated to oversee the comic-based movie universe, it’s no surprise Mera has a role in the upcoming films opposite Jason Momoa’s Aquaman. While her debut in Justice League is likely to be minor, expect her to emerge as a formidable player in the James Wan-helmed Aquaman solo film coming in July 2018.

Principal photography on Justice League wrapped last week — which Snyder celebrated by releasing a behind-the-scenes sizzle reel featuring plenty of action and bloopers. Heard’s character did not appear in the clip. This is the first we’ve seen Heard in a film role since her tabloid-dominating divorce from Johnny Depp earlier this year.

Justice League, also starring Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ezra Fisher as the Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, arrives in theaters Nov. 17, 2017.