Amber Heard Has Not Been Replaced As Mera In AQUAMAN 2 Despite Rumors To The Contrary

A rumor that Aquaman star Amber Heard had been "fired" from James Wan's upcoming sequel and replaced by another actress did the rounds online earlier today, and despite the dubious source, ended up gaining some traction after being picked up by the usual suspects.

In fairness, it wouldn't exactly have been a massive shock if Heard's scenes had been completely cut from the DC Comics sequel after some of the details that came to light during the highly-publicised defamation trial involving the actress and her ex-husband Johnny Depp, but Variety has now debunked the report.

According to Heard's spokesperson, "The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive and slightly insane.”

No arguments here, but again, Heard being ousted and replaced as Mera wouldn't seem to be outside the realm of possibility after what we learned during the trial. According to Heard herself, Warner Bros. were unsure about bringing her back as Mera due to concerns about on-screen chemistry (or lack thereof) with Jason Momoa, and her screen-time has reportedly been reduced to around 10 minutes.

Heard has definitely been painted as the "bad guy" after the verdict (she's been ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages), so the studio may well decide to either kill Mera off or recast the character down the line.

She addressed the social media backlash this week during her first public interview about the trial. “Even somebody who is sure I’m deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I’m lying, you still couldn’t look me in the eye and tell me that you think on social media there’s been a fair representation,” said Heard. “You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.”

After a delay pushed the film out of its original December 2022 release window, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is set to hit theaters on March 17, 2023.