Aquaman is DC’s most fun movie (shout out to the octopus drummer), but it sounds like there was nothing fun about making the sequel. Especially for Amber Heard. Variety reports that the actress, who played Aquaman’s red-haired love interest Mera, was nearly fired from sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom until the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, stepped in.
After the first Aquaman was released to mixed reviews but a robust box office, Warner Bros. and director James Wan “decided to drop the actress from the sequel due to her lack of chemistry with Momoa and sent a letter to her attorney, Karl Austen, informing him of its decision,” according to Variety. Sources say the attempted pink slip was “unrelated” to ex-husband Johnny Depp, who she would soon be involved in an ugly legal battle with, and star Jason Momoa “was not involved in the decision-making.”
Heard wasn’t fired, however, because “her former boyfriend, Elon Musk, had one of his litigators send a ‘scorched-earth letter to Warner Bros. threatening to burn the house down’ if the actress wasn’t brought back for a sequel.” Heard probably felt different about Musk then than she does now, after he shared a private photo of her dressed like a video game character.
Wan has denied that Heard’s role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was “pared down” after her high-profile trial against Johnny Depp, but she’s also not in the trailer much. We’ll found out on December 20, when the sequel finally hits theaters.
(Via Variety)
