Amber Heard confirmed to return as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in new footage shown at CinemaCon… after the star DENIED rumors she was being cut
- Warner Bros. revealed the first trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to CinemaCon attendees though it has not been released online
- The trailer confirms Amber Heard’s Mera is still a part of the sequel, with the character appearing in two brief shots
- Still, it’s unclear how big a role Heard’s Mera will have in the sequel, arriving in theaters this December
Embattled actress Amber Heard has been confirmed to reprise her role as Mera in Warner Bros.’ Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
There had been rumors about her role being canceled in the wake of her nasty defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp, though Heard herself denied she was being cut from the sequel back in June 2022.
Warner Bros. kicked off their two-hour CinemaCon presentation on Monday with the first trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, slated for release on December 20.
The trailer – which was not released online after the presentation – showcased Heard’s Mera in two brief shots of the trailer, according to Insider.
Mera was seen, ‘doing battle underwater’ though she has no dialogue in the trailer, while another report from The Direct added she was wearing a new white suit.
Confirmed: Embattled actress Amber Heard has been confirmed to reprise her role as Mera in Warner Bros.’ Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Rumors: There had been rumors about her role being canceled in the wake of her nasty defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp, though Heard herself denied she was being cut from the sequel back in June 2022
Still, it’s unclear how much screen time she’ll have in the sequel, especially since she testified during her defamation trial with Johnny Depp that a lot of her role was cut.
‘I fought really hard to stay in the movie — they didn’t want to include me in the film. 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 spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another,’ she said.
‘They basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch,’ Heard clarified.
There had been a massive Change.org petition to remove her from the sequel, which amassed more than 4.6 million signatures.
A rumor surfaced in June 2022 that Warner Bros. had not brought Heard back for the sequel and that they were in the process of re-casting the Mera role.
The rumor was given some credence since then-DC-Films head Walter Hamada had testified during the trial they had considered recasting the actress over concerns about her lack of ‘natural chemistry’ with co-star Momoa.
He added that the issues were raised as the filming of the first Aquaman film concluded because of the ‘chemistry’ between Heard and Momoa.
‘I fought really hard to stay in the movie — they didn’t want to include me in the film. 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 spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another,’ she said.
‘Editorially they were able to make that relationship work in the movie. There was a concern it took a lot of effort to get there,’ he explained, noting that Warner Bros was considering ‘someone with better more natural chemistry with Jason Momoa and move forward that way.’
Trial: Still, it’s unclear how much screen time she’ll have in the sequel, especially since she testified during her defamation trial with Johnny Depp that a lot of her role was cut
Fought: ‘I fought really hard to stay in the movie — they didn’t want to include me in the film. 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 spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another,’ she said.
Chemistry: ‘Editorially they were able to make that relationship work in the movie. There was a concern it took a lot of effort to get there,’ he explained, noting that Warner Bros was considering ‘someone with better more natural chemistry with Jason Momoa and move forward that way’
Hamada denied that Heard’s $2 million payment for the role was impacted by anything that had been said about her by Depp or his lawyer Adam Waldman, after the actress’s legal team claimed that she could have renegotiated her fee from $2 million for the first Aquaman movie to $6 million for the sequel had she not been spoken about negatively in the press.
He also denied Heard’s claims that her character, Mera, saw her role reduced dramatically during filming, including having an action scene taken away from her.
Under questioning from one of Depp’s lawyers, he said that the ‘character’s involvement was what it was from the beginning.’
Hamada said that ‘from the early stages of development of the script the movie was building around the character of Arthur and Orm’, played by Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson respectively.
However, a spokesperson for Heard quickly shot down the speculation, with a brief statement.
‘The rumor mill continues as it has from day one – inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane,’ the spokesperson said.
Heard first played Mera in 2017’s Justice League, which lead into 2018’s Aquaman alongside Jason Momoa’s title character.
The first movie – which also starred Patrick Wilson as his half-brother Orm Marius, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry and Yahya Abdul Mateen II as Black Manta – took in $335.1 million domestic and $1.148 billion worldwide.
Reduced: He also denied Heard’s claims that her character, Mera, saw her role reduced dramatically during filming, including having an action scene taken away from her
Development: Hamada said that ‘from the early stages of development of the script the movie was building around the character of Arthur and Orm’, played by Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson respectively
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