WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Aquaman #65, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Miguel Mendonca, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
After months of anticipation, Aquaman and Mera have finally tied the knot once again, joining their respective kingdoms of Atlantis and Xebel together in holy matrimony. For the underwater heroes, this poignant moment not only closes out the Aquaman comic book series that has been running since the start of the DC Rebirth era in 2016 but also serves as the culmination of Arthur Curry and Mera's character arcs since the 2010 crossover event Blackest Night. And in the wider DC Universe, there is perhaps no superhero relationship with a more complicated marital history than Arthur and Mera's, with this not wedding not being the underwater heroes' first trip together down the aisle.
Mera was introduced by Jack Miller and Nick Cardy in 1963's Aquaman #11 as a mysterious woman from Dimension Aqua, later retconned to be the secret underwater kingdom of Xebel. Mera and Arthur's romance was a whirlwind affair, with the two married shortly thereafter in 1964's Aquaman #18 as the first major superhero wedding shown on-panel. The couple had an infant son named Arthur Curry, Jr. who was kidnapped and murdered by Black Manta in 1977's Adventure Comics #452 by David Michelinie and Jim Aparo. This horrific tragedy would cause Arthur and Mera's marriage to completely unravel from the sheer grief, with Mera blaming Arthur for his mixed Atlantean-human physiology in making their baby weak and more vulnerable to Manta's plot.
Years later, Arthur and Mera would finally reconcile as she returned from the pocket dimension Netherworld only for Arthur to be killed in the events following the 2005 crossover event Infinite Crisis, with an amnesiac Arthur murdered by the classic Aquaman villain Narwhal. Mera was reunited with Arthur at the end of Blackest Night, with the Atlantean superhero resurrected by the mysterious White Lantern. The couple immediately rekindled their romantic relationship before secrets about Mera's past in Xebel come to the surface. While the two's relationship was maintained by the New 52 relaunch, the revisions to reality quietly removed the marriage from their history.
At the start of DC Rebirth, Aquaman decided to finally propose to Mera as the DC Universe steadily progressed to its pre-Flashpoint status quo. Even this engagement would endure its own fair share of complications over the years, from Arthur being seemingly killed during Scott Snyder's Justice League run while the entire underwater kingdom was upended by the crossover event "Drowned Earth." And while the couple would enjoy the surprise birth of a daughter named Andy, they also had to contend with a fearsomely upgraded Black Manta and Ocean Master's latest bid to seize the throne of Atlantis for himself.
What starts as an apparently typical day at Amnesty Bay after Ocean Master's defeat has Arthur and Mera arrive on a ship off the coast. To Mera's surprise, the couple's family and friends are awaiting them dressed for a wedding with the captain ready to officiate. With the Justice League in attendance, Arthur and Mera have officially remarried once again, the latest step in their tumultuous, back and forth romantic relationship.
While the two have seen extreme ups and downs over their shared comic book history, Arthur Curry and Mera always find their way back to one another again. And after all the changes to their background and reality, Aquaman and Mera's wedding fulfills a promise that has been building for years.