The first trailer of upcoming Jason Momoa’s movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was recently shown at CinemaCon, on Tuesday at the annual movie-theater convention. As per the trailer, Amber Heard, who played the role of Mera, is featured in two brief shots during the trailer in which she is part of the underwater battle. She has no dialogue in the trailer. Mera was the love interest of Aquaman in 2018’s original movie and has reprised her role in the upcoming movie.
The first trailer of the movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom received lots of backlash and hate due to the return of Amber Heard in the movie.
Amber Heard’s role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Amidst the defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, the recasting of the actress had been doubtful. In June 2020, a post was shared by Just Jared, which stated that Heard’s role has been cut out from the movie, however, the post was removed later. A spokesperson for Heard responded to the post,
“The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane.”
Amber Heard’s character Mera was first introduced in the 2017 film Justice League. After that, she became a protagonist in 2018’s Aquaman first part featuring alongside Momoa.
During her defamation trial, Heard had also said her role was heavily reduced in the movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. She said,
“I fought really hard to stay in the movie — they didn’t want to include me in the film.”
From what we can gauge from the trailer, Heard’s Mera is not the main supporting character in the movie like in the first part. Instead of Aquaman and Mera teaming up for the action scenes; in the sequel Aquaman and his half-brother Orm Marius, played by Patrick Wilson, will team up for the battle.
Fans’ reaction to seeing Amber Heard in the Aquaman trailer
In 2022, a petition was making rounds on Twitter, where fans wanted to remove Amber Heard from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Shockingly the petition got almost 4.5 million signs from fans. It was created by Jeanne Larson and was directed towards DC Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment. however, it did not have much impact, as Heard was seen in the trailer of the upcoming Aquaman film. The movie producer Peter Safran told Deadline,
“I don’t think we’re ever going to react to, honestly, pure fan pressure.”
“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,” said Safran, “You have to do what’s right for the film, and that’s really where we landed on it.”
The return of the Drive Angry actress has led to severe backlash and anger by the fans of the movie as they feel betrayed by the director.
Some tweets include,
Aquaman 2 isn't just bad. It's "I'm walking the fuck out of this theater and asking for a refund" bad.
— Slender 🏳️⚧️ (@Cult_of_Ember) April 25, 2023
“WB BETRAYS US! AMBER IS IN AQUAMAN 2!” i just laughed so loud https://t.co/8dkkz8feTL
— kie (@criminalplaza) April 26, 2023
“WB BETRAYS US! AMBER IS IN AQUAMAN 2!” i just laughed so loud https://t.co/8dkkz8feTL
— kie (@criminalplaza) April 26, 2023
Not seeing it if she’s in the thing
— 🕯🇺🇸Lauren Masters (@SarahKWilliam) April 25, 2023
Producer Peter Safran is willing to keep Amber Heard but not Henry Cavill 🤡
— You Know Who I Am (@V_Thighs) April 26, 2023
Producer Peter Safran is willing to keep Amber Heard but not Henry Cavill 🤡
— You Know Who I Am (@V_Thighs) April 26, 2023
Yes.
— Slender 🏳️⚧️ (@Cult_of_Ember) April 25, 2023
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will start airing in theatres on December 20.
Source-Twitter
