The expansion of the DCEU didn't necessarily get off to the smoothest start last year, with both Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad being met with overwhelmingly negative responses from critics, and equally divisive reactions from fans and casual moviegoers alike. Despite all of that, excitement for the future of the live-action DC films, both completed and in the works, continues to be noticeably more positive and hopeful than some fans and industry experts might have expected. Right at the front of that is not only this year's Wonder Woman standalone film and Justice League but 2018's Aquaman as well.

That's almost directly in relation to the level of talent currently involved in the film, in case Jason Momoa's casting as the King of Atlantis weren't already enough. In fact, coming off of both Furious 7 and the two Conjuring movies, director James Wan is on a high that right now few other directors both inside of the studio system and in the independent world are.

It also helps that the cast for Aquaman has only become more and more exciting with each new addition as well, including and specifically, Amber Heard's Mera, the fearsome wife of Momoa's Arthur Curry. As pre-production on the film continues, Heard took to her Instagram today to tease her continued preparation for the Mera role, which apparently includes some heavy rounds of sword-training. Take a look for yourself down below:

Wushu were here ---- Trainer: @lijing_wushu #Aquaman A post shared by Amber Heard (@amberheard) on

Whether or not this means that fans will get to see Heard wielding a sword as Mera at one point in the film will remain to be seen, of course, but it certainly opens up the possibility of it. Not that it would be much of a surprise to see her wielding some kind of melee weapon in it, considering the character does wield a trident sometimes in the comics, though, that's also remarkably different than the katana she's holding in the image here.

Heard's Mera was spotted just briefly in the new Justice League trailer released this past weekend, further confirming her brief role in the 2017 team-up film. Following Zack Snyder's recent tease of the Aquaman underwater scenes in the film, Justice League will hopefully be just a small taste of the underwater action sequences fans can expect to see in Wan's standalone film. In addition to Heard and Momoa, the film will also feature Patrick Wilson as the villainous ORM/Ocean Master, who it looks like will have his hands full with not only one royal underwater bad ass to face off against, but two.

Next: Why WB’s Aquaman Movie Was Delayed

Source: Instagram

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