There has been no sign that Amber Heard would be fully removed from her position as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, yet that hasn’t prevented individuals from attempting to make it happen. More than four million people have signed a petition calling for Heard to be removed from the picture after Johnny Depp claimed she was violent to him before faking domestic abuse claims against him after their marriage ended. The ex-couple is currently suing each other in court.
The majority of public opinion on the issue appears to be on Depp’s side. Since the commencement of the trial, the petition demanding her removal from Aquaman 2 had more than doubled in size, leading to claims that she had her sequences cut down to less than ten minutes of total screen time. Heard also affirmed that she “worked hard” to keep her role in the film, claiming that Warner Bros. wanted her out. As of yet, the studio has not verified or rejected the rumors.
In any event, many fans have offered recommendations for other actors who may potentially replace Heard if the part is ever recast. Emilia Clarke has appeared frequently, owing to her prior collaboration with Jason Momoa on the HBO series Game of Thrones. Meanwhile, many more fans have spoken out in favor of Blake Lively for the possible reworking. Fans have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction on social media, and a new petition has been established at Change.org pushing for Lively to be cast officially.
“After the slander trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard and all the terrible ‘energy’ surrounding the issue, and because Blake Lively is a much lovable actress and human being,” according to the petition summary.
The character of Mera does not appear to be replaced for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Despite being pushed back to 2023, the picture has already been completed, and reshoots to replace an actress would be too expensive for the company. It would have been far simpler to have Heard’s function as Mera limited, if not altogether abolished, as recent court testimony from Heard suggests.
Heard explained that she battled hard to stay in the film. They didn’t want her in the film, noting that her role had been “extremely cut down” from what it had been originally. She was handed a script. Then she was handed updated copies of the screenplay that removed action scenes that represented her character and another character, without giving too much away, two characters fighting with one another. They effectively took a lot of her responsibilities away from her. They just deleted a large number.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be released in cinemas on March 17, 2023.
