Amber Heard once again took the stand during her ongoing court battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp yesterday and made it clear that her Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom role has been significantly reduced. For many of the actor's detractors (including the millions who have signed a petition to oust Heard from the role), this will be welcomed, but it's a shame for fans of the character, Mera.
Now, a rumour shared by The New York Post claims Heard will have less than 10 minutes of screentime in the Aquaman sequel. That's a huge difference from her lead role in the 2018 blockbuster, and adds some weight to theories that Mera is going to be killed off near the beginning of this follow-up.
Heard first played the DC Comics character in Justice League. Her scenes were reshot by Joss Whedon and a questionable English accent was scrapped in the process. We got to hear that in Zack Snyder's Justice League, and the actor reprised the role for the Knightmare scenes added by the director. Whether Warner Bros. will eventually recast the character obviously remains to be seen.
"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 spoiler aways, two characters fighting with one another, and they basically took a bunch out of my role," Heard said during questioning yesterday. "They just removed a bunch out."
The Flash rewriting the DC Extended Universe's continuity could provide the perfect excuse to cast someone else as Mera, so fingers crossed the character is sidelined rather than killed.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to surface in theaters on March 17, 2023.