Following Amber Heard and Johnny Depp‘s contentious divorce battle, which unearthed unflattering accusations concerning them both, fans of the Aquaman franchise demanded the actress’ removal from the upcoming sequel. But don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen.
A petition that was signed by over one million people said the actress needed to be removed because of previous allegations that she abused Depp during their marriage.
However, a producer of the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom confirms Heard, 35, will not be cut from the movie and will reprise her role of Mera, the love interest of Jason Mamoa‘s Aquaman.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to react to, honestly, pure fan pressure,” producer Peter Safran told Deadline about the backlash. “You gotta do what’s best for the movie. We felt that if it’s [director] James Wan, and Jason Momoa, it should be Amber Heard. That’s really what it was.”
Insisting that Heard is an integral part of the Aquaman franchise, Safran said, “One is not unaware of what is going on in the Twitter-verse, but that doesn’t mean you have to react to it or take it as gospel or accede to their wishes.”
“You have to do what’s right for the film, and that’s really where we landed on it,” he concluded.
Aquaman 2 is expected to premiere Christmas 2022.
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