Amber Heard is back in Mera’s scaly costume for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is currently shooting in the UK. Her return comes despite a brutal internet campaign to get her booted out of the franchise. This saw multiple petitions with thousands of signatories asking Warner Bros. to fire her, as well as a blizzard of false rumors that Heard failed her physical, that she broke her contract, that she’s uninsurable, that her role was being drastically reduced, and so on and so forth.
There was much sound and fury, but it ultimately signified nothing. Warner Bros. never considered recasting Mera and simply ignored all the drama. Producer Peter Safran was asked about the situation in a recent interview and said they don’t pay attention to online campaigns.
But don’t expect the anger to die down anytime soon, as we’re hearing from our sources that Heard is either close to, or has inked, a deal with Warner Bros for two more Aquaman movies.
Exactly what these projects are is unknown, though it seems like a no-brainer that at least one is Aquaman 3. This indicates that they’ve got a lot of confidence in what James Wan is doing with Lost Kingdom, possibly hinting that he could be beginning an epic multipart story. But the other film may be the rumored Mera spinoff, with the story shunting Arthur Curry off to the sidelines to concentrate on the Atlantian princess’ adventures.
The rumor would also indicate that Warner Bros is confident Amber Heard will come out on top in her lengthy and vicious legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp. She’s already triumphed in London, where the High Court ruled that it wasn’t libelous to describe Depp as a “wife-beater”.
The next battle will be in Virginia in summer 2022, where Depp and Heard are suing one another for defamation. We should have a ruling by the time Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hits theaters on December 16 next year. In the meantime, watch this space for further updates.
