Another day, another rumor calling Amber Heard’s DCEU future into question. There’s been much discussion about whether Warner Bros. will stick by the actress in the long-term after all the bad press that her ongoing legal battles with ex Johnny Depp has wrought, but to date, Heard is still officially expected to reprise her role as Mera in Aquaman 2. The latest reports, however, are claiming that WB has fired her over a breach of contract.
As picked up by Small Screen, two separate outlets – YouTube channel Popcorned Planet and Australian site Sausage Roll – are sharing that sources have told them that Heard has been let go from the James Wan sequel on the grounds that she broke the health and fitness clauses in her contract. No specific reasons beyond that, including what exactly she could’ve done that contravened her agreement with the studio, are known, however.
Popcorned Planet initially broke the story that WB were in the process of removing the star from the sequel, while Sausage Roll says that the process is now complete. It’s worth pointing out that the Aquaman movies film in Australia, so that might lend some credibility to the second outlet’s claims. It’s also said that WB has yet to hire a new actress to fill the role of Jason Momoa’s onscreen love interest, though fan favorite recasting Emilia Clarke is believed to be one of the stars they’re considering.
Prior reports had stated that Warner Bros. was happy to stand by Heard following the last court case going against Depp and in her favor, but if the actress really did do something to breach her contract, then you’d imagine they wouldn’t be too sorry to lose the negative baggage that comes from having her involved with the franchise. After all, almost two million people have signed an online petition calling for her to be replaced as Mera.
But we might want to wait for further developments before taking this as fact. After all, other tipsters, like Daniel Richtman, have said that the studio are more than happy to continue working with Amber Heard and as recently as this week, he even claimed that she’s in talks for a cameo in The Flash. Of course, that’s technically still possible even if her Aquaman 2 contract has been breached, but for now, we’ll advise taking all this with the usual grain of salt.