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DC Comics movie studio Warner Bros. has featuring actress Amber Heard as comic book character Mera, the Queen of Atlantis, who is set to feature in the upcoming superhero mash-up movie 鈥淛ustice League.鈥澛�

Ms. Heard has appeared in films such as 鈥淭he Danish Girl鈥� and 鈥淧aranoia.鈥� In comic book lore, her character, Mera, is usually linked romantically with Aquaman (Jason Momoa).

The upcoming 鈥淛ustice League鈥� film also stars Ben Affleck, Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot, and Amy Adams.聽

The film in which Ms. Heard will appear is scheduled to come out at the end of 2017 and will no doubt be an interesting one for studio Warner Bros. The studio has pushed forward with its plan for an expansive film series involving many characters from DC Comics works, with 鈥淢an of Steel,鈥� which stars Henry Cavill as Superman, debuting in 2013. The highly anticipated film 鈥淏atman v Superman鈥� debuted this past spring and was followed by 鈥淪uicide Squad,鈥� which centers on various DC Comics villains and came out this past August.

Warner Bros.鈥檚 main rival in this game is of course Marvel Studios, which is owned by Disney and currently dominates the superhero world. This past summer鈥檚 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War鈥� was the studio鈥檚 newest success and is currently the second-highest-grossing film of the year domestically.

鈥淏atman v Superman鈥� and 鈥淪uicide Squad鈥� are both currently in the top 10 list of the highest-grossing films of the year domestically so far, placing at number seven and eight, respectively. But both 鈥� as well as 鈥淢an of Steel鈥� 鈥� failed to please critics. Monitor film critic Peter Rainer gave 鈥淪uicide Squad,鈥� for one, a C-, writing that the film 鈥渋s the latest failed attempt to lift up DC Comics-based characters into the mega-franchise stratosphere 鈥� the characters, all of whom are promisingly introduced, fizzle fast 鈥� in the Marvel v. DC matchup, there鈥檚 still no contest.鈥澛�

Can 鈥淛ustice League鈥� turn these bad notices around? Where does Warner Bros. go from here? (A 鈥淲onder Woman鈥� film will debut before 鈥淛ustice,鈥� coming out in the summer of 2017, but 鈥淛ustice鈥� is, to borrow a Marvel comparison, the 鈥淎vengers鈥� hopeful of the franchise, bringing together multiple superheroes as a team.)聽

鈥淧oor word of mouth and bad reviews can cost a film in the long run,鈥� wrote following the release of 鈥淪uicide Squad.鈥� 鈥淭hose things are what kept previous DC entries 鈥楳an of Steel鈥� and 鈥楤atman v Superman鈥� from crossing the coveted billion-dollar mark worldwide, an increasingly essential milestone for these films.鈥� (鈥淪uicide Squad鈥� has not yet done so either.) 鈥淢arvel has ultimately been successful because the studio has something the DC films so far have seemingly lacked 鈥� a honcho who oversees each work every step of the way, in producer Kevin Feige.鈥� The creative burden placed on [鈥楤atman v Superman鈥橾 was extraordinary: It had to introduce Batman and Wonder Woman, function as a Superman sequel, and set up the premise of the Justice League, DC鈥檚 Avengers-like super-team. No Marvel movie was ever given such a task, and the ones that have come closest to feeling overloaded 鈥� 鈥業ron Man 2鈥� and 鈥楢vengers: Age of Ultron鈥� 鈥� are among the franchise鈥檚 least popular.鈥澛�

After the release of 鈥淪uicide Squad,鈥� called the DC Comics franchise a 鈥渢icking clock.鈥澛�

鈥淭o some degree, 鈥楽uicide Squad鈥� was seen by fans to be a chance for Warner Bros. to redeem the DC movies following 鈥楤atman v. Superman,鈥欌�� writes Mr. McMillan. 鈥淲ill 鈥榃onder Woman鈥� become something similar in light of the reception for 鈥楽uicide Squad鈥�? And if that movie doesn't satisfy the fanbase, will attention shift to 鈥楯ustice League,鈥� and then whatever movie follows 鈥楯ustice League鈥� if that, too, should disappoint fans?鈥� At some point, surely, one of two things has to happen: Either Warners refines its formula for projects already in the works and finds something that pleases the mass superhero audience out there, making a movie that pleases critics and audiences alike, or else, eventually, the studio has to pull the plug on the DC superhero universe as it currently stands and attempt to do something else with the properties.鈥�