The Relationship Between Aquaman and Mera in AQUAMAN is Likened To INDIANA JONES and ROMANCING THE STONE
Some new details have surfaced in regards to the relationship between Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Mera (Amber Heard) in director James Wan's Aquaman movie. One thing is for sure, don't expect to see a typical superhero love story between these two characters.
Producer Peter Safran explained that their relationship doesn't really fit in with how relationships are played with in other superhero films. He explained that this one falls more in line with Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone.
"I wouldn’t necessarily call it in this movie a love story. It’s very much in the vein of Indiana Jones. James wanted to tell this swashbuckling, fun, quest movie. It’s a great time for everybody to see. So, the relationship is a little bit Michael Douglas-Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, which is ultimately a romantic action movie. But, I wouldn’t say it’s actually a romance.
When talking about their individual personalities, he said:
"There is a great antagonism, because of the places they come from. She is all about duty and honor and he’s all about looking out for number one. And, I think what they both realize over the course of their journey, he harbors such anger toward Atlantis for killing his mother. He learns that he shouldn’t judge the entirety of Atlantis based on the actions of one man and she learns that the surface world is a place that’s really worth preserving and finding a way to coexist."
There's obviously going to be an attraction between the characters, it's just going to be handled differently. Heard goes on to say that neither character is supporting the other, as both are truly equal.
"The thing I really like about this is I feel it has a more modern approach, I think, to what would otherwise be a more classic superhero formula. This is very much a story where they are equal partners. Because they come from different worlds, their strengths are very different.
"Where one excels in one world, the other is a fish out of water. Pun intended. [Laughs] I guess I’ll be saying that a whole lot. Just gonna get used to owning it! But it’s true. Mera, when she’s on the surface world, it’s very much an alien world to her. Same way that when Arthur is in Atlantis, he’s completely out of his element. But we both excel at being in our own worlds, and because we have our own identities and because our identities are tied up in who we are in our respective worlds, we share equal responsibility in the journey."
That dynamic between the characters is one of the things that will make this movie so fun and interesting. The actress goes on to point out that we shouldn't expect to see Aquaman come to Mera's rescue:
"What I really love is that it does not rely on this whole damsel in distress formulaic thing we see all the time, we’ve seen a million times. He doesn’t rescue the girl and then save the world. He doesn’t — in fact, I save him. Like I said, they go on this adventure as equal partners and they end it that way. There is an element of attraction there, but it is not the thing — because they have a job to do, they have a mission to fulfill and are equal partners in the success or failure of that mission, that takes a back seat to this. Their relationship, that element is not the driving force or what brings them together."
Aquaman hits theaters on December 21st. What are your thoughts on how the relationship between Aquaman and Mera will be handled in the film?
Source: CB