A new trailer for the highly anticipated ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ has just been released.
However, it hasn’t been lost on fans that one of the movie’s main characters has been completely cut out of its new promotional tease, namely Queen Mera, played by Amber Heard.
The trailer, which is the second tease dropped for the upcoming DC movie, follows claims that Amber’s role was cut down due to the adverse scrutiny the actress has been subjected to following the highly mediatized defamation lawsuit pitting her against ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Aquaman 2's new trailer was recently released but appeared to completely erase any traces of Mera, leaving many Amber Heard fans angry
Image credits: Warner Bros.
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
The 37-year-old movie star briefly appeared in Aquaman 2’s first trailer which was released in September.
Amber displayed a more important presence in the first 2018 Aquaman movie as the daughter of King Nereus.
Mera can control water with her mind and communicate with other Atlanteans telepathically, and she also becomes the wife of Aquaman, the movie’s protagonist played by Jason Momoa.
Amber played Jason Momoa's on-screen wife, as he played Aquaman
Image credits: DC
In the new trailer, a series of actions starts with Jason’s voiceover stating that Aquaman has swapped his aquatic fighting skills for fatherhood.
Nonetheless, the half-human, half-Atlantean, whose real name is Arthur Curry, will seemingly have to drop his daddy duty as he takes on the role of King of Atlantis, battling against a new set of villains.
Nicole Kidman will reprise her role of Atlanna, Arthur’s mother and the former queen of Atlantis.
You can watch the new trailer below:
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
Image credits: DC
James Wan, Aquaman’s director, has reportedly been playing down allegations that Amber’s role was significantly reduced.
“The first Aquaman was Arthur and Mera’s journey.
“The second movie was always going to be Arthur and Orm.”
James further explained: “So, the first was a romance action-adventure movie, the second one is a bromance action-adventure movie.”
Amber displayed a more important presence in the first 2018 Aquaman movie as the daughter of King Nereus
Image credits: DC
Last month saw the production of Aquaman 2 at the center of more drama after Amber’s therapy documents were leaked in a bombshell Reddit-induced exposé.
Fans of the Jack Sparrow character had paid court fees for the release of documents from Amber’s therapist, Dr. Dawn Hughes.
In original notes written on a legal pad, the raw writing outlined an adverse film set for Aquaman, in which an allegedly drunk Jason Momoa, who plays the protagonist Aquaman, purposely put on clothes in the same style as Johnny.
The therapist’s scribbles also described Jason pushing bosses to have Amber fired from her role as Mera in the DC movie.
The notes read: “Jason said he wanted me fired.
“Jason drunk — late on set. Dressing like Johnny. Has all the rings too.”
Insiders believe that "at least" two scenes featuring Heard were removed from the sequel: an action sequence and a love scene with Momoa
Image credits: DC
As reported by Variety, Jason’s representatives declined to directly comment on the matter; however, a spokesperson for DC “pushed back on Amber’s characterization,” saying, “Jason Momoa conducted himself in a professional manner at all times on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’”
Meanwhile, as Amber has also declined to comment, a source close to the actress reportedly corroborated that the notes did refer to the Aquaman 2 set and that they did echo a session from December 2021.
An additional source close to the mom-of-one claimed that her lawyer had fought against the release of the therapist’s notes, which had been subpoenaed by Johnny’s attorneys during discovery, Variety reported.
Mera can control water with her mind and communicate with other Atlanteans telepathically
Image credits: amberheard
Image credits: amberheard
As much as Jason was a topic of concern, as the damning notes showed, the now-public therapy session also revealed that Amber felt let down by James Wan, Aquaman’s film director.
According to the notes, Amber was nearly shunned on set as a result of her high-profile legal fight with Johnny.
Dawn’s notes read: “He raised his voice @ me — ‘I can’t even post about Aquaman’ — made it like it was my fault – I said ‘I’m sorry.’
“Nobody could take selfies with me on set given blackout.”
Director James Wan argued that the choice to remove Amber from the trailer was a creative one, as the sequel was a "bromance" film
Image credits: amberheard
Amidst the release of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ planned for December 20, 2023, many people came to Amber’s defense.
Noticing the actress’ total absence from the new trailer, a fan wrote on Facebook: “Such a shame men feel threatened by a beautiful talented woman!”
On X (formerly known as Twitter), people flooded the allegedly shunned address as a person wrote: “Really sickened & disappointing how Amber Heard’s been treated by Warner Bros Pictures.”
“So because Amber Heard lost a defamation suit against someone who didn’t deny abusing her, but just had a problem with that information being made public, she’s now being erased from a film she’s has a key role in,” another person chimed in.
DC fans didn't understand the logic of removing Mera from the trailer
