It looks like Amber Heard will be in 2023’s “Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom” after all. The highly anticipated sequel is a follow-up to 2018’s “Aquaman,” which saw Jason Momoa take on the mantle of the underwater hero. Heard appeared as Princess Mera in the first film, the love interest of Aquaman. But amid Heard’s 2022 trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp, some pushed for Heard to be removed from the film, with many even signing a petition to have her removed by DC.
Still, Heard appears twice in footage of “Aquaman 2,” which was shown at CinemaCon on April 25, per Insider, confirming that she is in fact in the film. Representative for Heard and DC Studios did not immediately respond to POPSUGAR’s request for comment. Here’s what we know about Heard’s role in the movie so far.
Will Amber Heard Be in “Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom”?
Production for “Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom” started in June 2021 and finished in January 2022, with Heard on board to reprise her role as Mera. During the beginning stages of production, some Depp supporters called for Heard to be removed, and the film’s producer, Peter Safran, told Deadline in July 2021, “One is not unaware of what is going on in the Twitter-verse, 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’s right for the film, and that’s really where we landed on it.”
The CinemaCon trailer confirmed that Heard is in the film. The trailer has yet to be released to the public.
What Is Amber Heard’s Role in “Aquaman 2”?
During Depp and Heard’s trial, entertainment industry consultant Catherine Arnold claimed in her testimony that Heard told her that her “Aquaman 2” role was diminished because of her legal issues with Depp. According to Arnold, the first script saw Mera have a “strong romantic arc” in the movie. “She also got to do some great action sequences at the end of that storyline and that script. So she was featured predominantly throughout the script of ‘Aquaman 2’ when she first read it,” Arnold testified in court (via Cosmic Book).
Arnold said Heard told her her role was significantly reduced in the second script she read. “When she got the script, it was pared down from the first script, dramatically, they had her in the hospital in the first part of the movie called Act 1, they had her in the hospital, then they pretty much had her in the hospital, then she was going to do this action sequence in the end,” Arnold explained. “She trained five hours a day for several months with a trainer to do this big action sequence, and then when she got to set . . . this big action sequence she was going to do at the end of the movie in the third act was cut out and they took it away from her. So it was radically reduced in the script from what it was . . .”
On May 24, 2022, then-president of DC Films Walter Hamada confirmed in a prerecorded deposition that Heard had almost lost her role in “Aquaman 2,” but that it was unrelated to the trial, per Vanity Fair. Instead he said it was because she didn’t have chemistry with Momoa. “The reality is it’s not uncommon on movies for two leads to not have chemistry and that it’s sort of movie magic and editorial – the ability to put performances together with the magic of a great score and how you put the pieces together, you can fabricate that chemistry,” he said in part, according to the outlet. He added, “The chemistry wasn’t there. . . . This one was more difficult because of lack of chemistry between the two.” Hamada also said the movie was never meant to have a major romantic arc.
Ultimately, no one will know the true extent of Heard’s role until “Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom” is released on Dec. 20.
