CinemaCon 2023: has Amber Heard’s role in the upcoming Aquaman sequel been reduced after ‘that’ public trial?

CinemaCon 2023 is about to wrap for another year and has been an overwhelming treasure trove of pop culture news; from an exclusive screening of The Flash through to Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie attending in full Barbiecore style. But one persistent discussion stemming from the gamut of coverage Warner Bros and in particular the DC Extended Universe once again came to the forefront online - that of Amber Heard’s role in the forthcoming Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom.

Cast our minds back to the trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp last year, when it was alleged by Heard’s lawyers that studio executives “didn't want to include" her in the film and she had to fight to keep her part, claiming that revisions were made to the script that reduced her role to a "very pared down version", including removing action sequences for her character, and she was unable to renegotiate her contract. 

That was since clarified by then head of DC Films Walter Hamada, who said they did consider recasting Mera, but this was due to concerns over Heard's chemistry with Momoa rather than the abuse allegations. He added that it was the studio's policy not to renegotiate contracts for all actors, and said the size of Heard's role had not changed during development of the sequel. He also explained that the film was always intended to be a "buddy comedy" that focused on the relationship between Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Orm (Patrick Wilson). 

But as the trailer for Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom dropped at CinemaCon, Heard’s appearance in the film has once again elicited polarising responses online. Comic Book Movie live blogged throughout the Warner Bros presentation that took place yesterday and gave a detailed account of the new Aquaman 2 trailer, detailing that Amber Heard’s character, Mera, appeared merely once in the entire reel. That was towards the end of the trailer, showing Mera dressed all in white but with no interaction with the characters throughout the trailer - almost a blink-and-miss appearance from the actress.

That scene happened to be during what is set to be an epic battle between Aquaman and his nemesis, Black Manta, indicating that Heard is still in the film despite a petition for her to be removed from her role fetching nearly 4 million signatures. But just how prolific she will be in the film is the point of contention. Should Mera just be used for a battle scene, comic book adaptation before have shown that a major character can make a cameo appearance during a huge battle scene (see: Avengers: Endgame), which would still showcase Heard, however to the extent she discussed during her trial - becoming the smoking gun for Amber Heard “stans” to prove that she has been the victim of a smear campaign by Johnny Depp’s team.

However, given that Mera was meant to be the love interest of Arthur Curry (Aquaman’s day-to-day name), and then swift pivot from DC to focus more on the relationship between Aquaman and his step-brother Orm, perhaps a lack of chemistry or a potential backlash from those who disagreed with Heard’s comments in court, perhaps there was a caution during reshoots and editing to offset the dramas off screen causing bad karma when released. 

Though the argument raised there is that Ezra Miller, and his countless acts of erratic, sometimes illegal behaviour, still retained his role as the lead in The Flash movie (which earned rave reviews critically during pre-release showings), the big different unfortunately is that Miller plays an integral role in the DC Extended Universe - Mera, we’re afraid, is seen as expendable now the film is focusing on friendship rather than a relationship. 

But until first reports emerge of the film as a whole, rather than just a trailer, we’re going to have to wait and see how scaled back Heard’s role in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom - for now, she is at least in the marketing materials for the film, set for release in US cinemas on 25 December and in the UK on 29 December.