This story was originally posted on 05/20/22, titled: ‘Things Are Getting Worse For Amber Heard After This Huge ‘Aquaman 2′ Bombshell—She Must Be Losing it!’ and has been updated following the Depp vs. Heard trial verdict
Amber Heard may not appear in the next Aquaman film after all, according to rumors circulating across social media, Cosmic Book News writes. The idea that scenes featuring Heard as character Mera in the film are to be cut completely came from a Twitter scooper this week (username @TheComixKid). The user claims to have been in contact with a source affiliated with Warner Brothers. While this information seems to be a rumor as of now, this source reportedly said that in a meeting, it was decided to cut all of Heard’s scenes from the film.
Amidst all the drama of the Depp-Heard trial, Heard’s performance as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was previously cut down to less than 10 minutes, according to film journalist Grace Randolph. Many of Johnny Depp’s fans also continue to call for Heard to be removed from the film altogether.
I hear #AmberHeard has less than 10 min of screentime in #Aquaman2 pic.twitter.com/oh4ZhQ1CiU
— Grace Randolph (@GraceRandolph) April 28, 2022
The decision to minimize the actress’s screen time seems to be the result of a petition—which recently surpassed a whopping 3 million signatures—demanding that Heard is removed from the Aquaman sequel. “Do the right thing. Remove Amber Heard from Aquaman 2,” the petition requests.
Fans who signed it expressed that they believe this is “the right thing” to do in light of the heated legal battle that ensued between the actress and her ex-husband, Depp. As of the June 1st verdict, the jury found both Heard and Depp liable for defamation in their lawsuits against each other, but awarded more damages to Depp, which the actor’s team described to be a legal win.
Depp sued Heard for defamation over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed article in which she deemed herself to be a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Although Depp was not named in the article, he claimed that its impact cost him several acting roles. Heard then countersued her ex-husband for defamation over statements that his attorney made regarding her abuse claims.
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Many of Depp’s fans continue to express their hopes that the actress will not appear in the highly-anticipated superhero film, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, directed by James Wan. The flick has an official March 17, 2023 release date and some fans have noted that they would rather see Emilia Clarke take on the role (Jason Momoa previously starred with her on Game of Thrones). Some even PhotoShopped her face onto Heard’s body but Clarke and Momoa have not commented on this fan cast. As the movie has already been filmed, and this might require heavy and time-consuming editing to do, other fans have “accepted” that Heard might be featured in it, but just want her to have “the least amount of screen time possible,” as one wrote.
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There’s no doubt Momoa and Clarke have great on-screen chemistry, but it’s hard to say whether or not Aquaman creators would be willing to make such a major last-minute change to the film.
In July 2021, producer Peter Safran responded to the petition in an interview with Deadline, saying that the movie’s creators would “never going to react to, honestly, pure fan” pressure.”You gotta do what you feel is best for the movie,” Safran explained. “We felt that if it’s James Wan and Jason Momoa, it should be Amber Heard. That’s really what it was.”
He continued by saying that fan casting has little effect on the final decisions of the filmmakers. “Listen,” Safran said, “one is not unaware of what is going on in the Twitterverse, but that doesn’t mean you have to react to it or take it as gospel or accede to their wishes. You have to do what you feel is right for the film, and that’s really where we landed on it.”
As of last month, Depp fans have received *part* of their wish, as Heard revealed in her testimony on Monday, May 16th that her contract with DC Comics was officially terminated. Her bombshell revelation came following the news that her scenes in Aquaman 2 were cut dramatically and she would only be appearing in less that ten minutes of the film in total; however, it’s still not known whether the termination of her DC contract means that the rest of her scenes will now be cut or whether they will stay in the movie.
“They released me from my contract and I’ve fought to stay in it,” Heard said during her testimony, before going on to say that she doesn’t actually know how much she will appear in the final version. “I fought really hard to stay in the movie. They didn’t want to include me in the film.” Heard added: “They kept me in it, I just don’t know how much I’m in actually, the final cut.”
And it’s not just what ends up on the cutting room floor, as Heard said that “a bunch” of scenes were removed during filming, as she was given “new versions” of the script that already featured significantly less action sequences. “I was given a script and given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that had depicted my character and another character – without giving away any spoilers away – the two characters fighting with one another,” she said. “They basically took a bunch out of my role. They didn’t… They just removed a bunch.”
