Ever since the defamation case of Johnny Depp against Amber Heard has started, more and more fans have been insisting on the removal of Amber Heard from the Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
As of Monday, more than 4.1 million signatures have been collected on the Change.org petition, which demands Amber Heard be cut from the DC Extended Universe film, set to release on March 17, 2023. There has been a sharp increase in the number since they were first reported.
Nearly at 4.2 mil signatures. Can we make 5 by the end of the trial? If you have already signed, share it out. #JusticeForJohhnyDepp
DC Entertainment: Remove Amber Heard from Aquaman 2 – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/uKRgGfWD4K via @Change
— Troy R Pacelli (@PacelliTroy) May 17, 2022
Most of the people associated with Heard and the film itself have been skirting around the topic of Heard’s role, Queen Mera. A rep for Heard refused to comment. Producer Warner Bros. did not respond to the story as well.
However, in July, Peter Safran, a producer of Aquaman and its highly anticipated sequel, stated that such campaigns don’t have any effects on the filmmakers themselves.
Safran stated in a podcast:
“You gotta do what’s best for the movie. We felt that if it’s [director] James Wan and [star] Jason Momoa [returning], it should be Amber Heard. That’s really what it was.”
In January, Wan reported that production for Aquaman 2 had wrapped up.
Amber Heard’s first appearance as Queen Mera was in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. She went on to play the co-star of Jason Momoa in Aquaman’s origin story as the female lead of the movie. Alongside Willem Dafoe, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Patrick Wilson and others.
Do you think Amber Heard should get some, if not all, of the screen time in the upcoming Aquaman movie?
On Monday, as the defamation trial continued after a week-long hiatus, Heard testified that her role in Aquaman has been reduced significantly despite how hard she fought to keep it.
In her testimony, she stated:
“I fought really hard to stay in the movie. I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another. They basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch.”
According to her, she was in no position to renegotiate her contract. The contract stipulates she’d receive $2 million and a certain portion from the movie’s profits. For Aquaman, she received $1 million.
A little while after Heard’s divorce from actor Johnny Depp, she penned an op-ed for The Washington Post. An op-ed which insinuated that Heard was a victim of domestic abuse in her relationship with Johnny Depp. The op-ed resulted in multiple lawsuits from Depp, including a libel lawsuit against The Sun, which Depp lost.
Afterward, Depp sued Heard for defamation which is ongoing in Fairfax County at the moment. Heard received backlash for her Washington Post article, which birthed a petition against her to have her fired from Aquaman 2. Mostly because her allegations against the actor hadn’t even proven true yet, and despite that, it cost Depp the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.
A die-hard Depp fan spoke in favor of him and decided to boycott the upcoming movie altogether:
If warner bros refuse to remove amber heard from aquaman 2, then we will just have to not buy ticket and make it their greatest failure, maybe then there will understand johnny depp’s loss when those fake accusations where made against him
— random (@yoo_random) May 13, 2022
Furthermore, in her testimony, Heard denied defecating on her ex-husband’s side of the bed. She believed it was a disgusting practical joke, and she was in no mood for it after being abused by Depp earlier that day.
“I had just been attacked on my 30th birthday by my violent husband with whom I was desperately in love and knew I needed to leave. It was not really a jovial time, and I don’t think that’s funny, period. That’s disgusting.”
The entire world’s watching with bated breath to see how the defamation trial plays out. Both the actors are in the public eye and being scrutinized for their actions. Depp has already lost two major roles, Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and the famous Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean’s sixth installment.
So far, it seems like Warner Bros. has its hands full by putting out fires because of The Flash’s main lead Ezra Miller and also dealing with the Discovery merger, which is causing issues in their TV and theatrical line-up. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom have already been delayed into 2023, so who knows what’s in store for Heard’s role.
