Amber Heard “excited” for Aquaman 2, blasts “paid campaigns” to discredit her

Amber Heard says she will return as Mera in Aquaman 2, dismissing rumors to the contrary as the result of “paid rumors and paid campaigns.”

Aquaman was a hit when it came out in 2018, with fans embracing Jason Momoa’s take on the aquatic DC superhero. Amber Heard played Mera, an Atlantean warrior, Aquaman’s love interest, and a superhero in her own right.

Although Warner Bros. hasn’t officially greenlit a sequel to Aquaman, given the first film’s success I think we all know it’s coming sooner or later, even if the pandemic slows things down a bit. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Heard said that production hopes to get going in 2021. “I’m super excited about the amount of fan love and the amount of fan appreciation that Aquaman has acquired and that it has garnered so much excitement for Aquaman and Mera that it means we’ll be coming back,” she said. “I’m so excited to film that.”

Normally, none of this would be particularly noteworthy, but Heard’s words pique interest because there have been consistent rumors online that she wouldn’t return to the role of Mera for a sequel. The reason for has to do with the ongoing legal battle between Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp. In 2016, she filed for divorce, alleging that Depp had physically abused her, usually while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The divorce was finalized in 2017. In 2018, Heard wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post talking about her experience, although she never mentioned Depp by name. In 2019, Depp filed a defamation suit against her for $50 million, denying that he had abused her and claiming that she, rather than being a victim of physical abuse, was “a perpetrator.” Depp also sued The Sun newspaper in Britain for describing him as a “wife-beater.” Earlier this year, he introduced phone recordings into the trial where Heard admits to “hitting” him.

Heard put forward evidence of her own, detailing multiple instances of abuse and referencing the scars she still had as a result. Recently, the judge in The Sun case ruled against Depp, accepting Heard’s testimony. Days later, Warner Bros. asked Depp to resign from the role of Grindelwald in the ongoing Fantastic Beasts series. He did, although he’ll still get paid at least $10 million for his trouble.

So while Heard has won in court (in that case, at least; Depp’s defamation suit against her is still ongoing), the court of public opinion is still chattering away, which is why there’s some consternation over Heard continuing in the role of Mera. It’s gotten to the point where people are even fan-casting replacements, with Game of Thrones veteran Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) being a popular choice:

For her part, Heard dismisses all of that speculation. “Paid rumors and paid campaigns on social media don’t dictate [casting decisions] because they have no basis in reality,” she said. “Only the fans actually made Aquaman and Aquaman 2 happen. I’m excited to get started next year.”

At the moment, Aquaman 2 is penciled in for a release date of December 16, 2022, although given how easily things are shifting in Hollywood right now, that could change.

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h/t Insider