Aquaman was a huge box-office success when it came out in 2018 on a domestic and global scale. We were expecting it, but no one could predict it would be the highest-grossing DC universe movie. In total, it brought 1.148 billion USD in revenue, and the only movie that comes remotely close to it is Batman V Superman from 2016, which brought 863.6 million in revenue. The first movie featured Jason Mamoa as Aquaman and Amber Heard as Mera. With not-so-recent developments, it looks like Amber Heard is out of production for the 2nd movie but is it true that Emilia Clarke will replace Amber Heard in Aquaman 2?
Although there have been many rumors surrounding the replacement of Amber Heard as Mera, there are no official confirmations that Emilia Clarke will replace Amber Heard in Aquaman 2. Fans are eager to see it happen, and execs have even considered the move due to the ”lack of chemistry” between co-stars Jason Mamoa and Amber Heard.
Why were the execs even considering the move? DC surely can’t afford to replace their main actress in the movie, and does this mean that the release date for Aquaman 2 will be pushed back further? Let’s see what we can find to get to the bottom of everything throughout the rest of this article.
Amber Heard’s film opus
Amber Heard has well over 40 movie titles in her opus. Most of her work is concentrated in 2015, but she has been acting since 2004 when she played in a TV show called Jack & Bobby. Aquaman was her first breakthrough role, but other notable roles include 3 Days to Kill, Drive Angry, and The Rum Diary.
Her two upcoming movies are Aquaman 2 and In The Fire. Both are set to release sometime in 2023, so we can expect to see Amber back on the big screen next year. If you’re interested in the second movie, the star cast includes Eduardo Noriega and Lorenzo McGovern Zaini. It’s a thriller set in the 1890s and follows the story of a doctor who travels from New York to care for a disturbed boy with inexplicable abilities. Amber Heard plays the doctor.
The trial
The biggest downfall of Amber Heard and what led to execs and the public wanting to replace her with Emilia Clarke in Aquaman 2 is the defamation trial between Johnny Deep and her. The months-long trial began on April 11th, 2022, and was available to the public. All major news media were going live, and millions of people were watching it. It was trending on TikTok, and the #JusticeForJohnnyDepp started the movement across all social media platforms.
If you didn’t follow the trial, here’s a quick summary. Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for defamation if Virginia for 50.000.000 USD after the release of her op-ed in The Washington Post in 20Beforer to the defamation trial, there was a trial back in the UK where Depp sued The Sun for calling him a ”wife beater” in 2019, the same year Depp sued Heard for defamation.
In 2021, Heard countersued Depp for 100.000.000 USD. The trial began, and it was revealed that Depp was allegedly abused throughout their relationship. Much incriminating evidence was released, and the ruling went in Johnny’s favor. Since the trial was public, it was easy for people to pick sides, and most people chose to side with johnny after hearing the evidence and witness statements.
Emilia Clarke’s film opus
There’s no need for me to introduce Emilia Clarke to you. She starred in the mega-hit series Game of Thrones from 2011 to 2019. She worked on 62 episodes and was cast as Qi’ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Terminator Genisys as Sarrah Connor, and Me Before You as Lou Clark.
Why did the fans decide that Emilia Clarke was a good replacement for Amber Heard? It might be due to Jason Momoa and Emilia Clarke’s obvious chemistry on screen. It fell naturally in their laps in Game of Thrones, where Momoa played Drogo and Clarke played Daenerys.
The producers were once concerned about how difficult it was for Momoa and Heard to get to the chemistry that was supposed to be shown on screen and were thinking about taking the route where it falls naturally in both Momoa’s and the other actresses’ laps. They never announced that Clarke was the one to replace Heard if it were ever to happen; it was and still is fan speculation.
What does the change mean for the movie’s release?
The movie Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom is in post-production. On average, it takes 6 to 12 months for the movie to end up in the final cut stage. But with post-production for Aquaman 2 starting in January 2022 and the expected release date being sometime in March 2023, we can see that there have already been delays.
Another release date delay was announced, and we can expect to see Aquaman 2 in theaters somewhere in December 2023. Some speculate that this was a tactical move on DC’s part so they won’t have to compete with Avatar: The Way of Water which is expected to release in December 2022.
Luckily, for Aquaman, this gives them more time to make the movie truly good. Beyond that, it’ll have a holiday release just like the first title, and judging by the box office of the first movie; we can assume that the movie will follow up in the first movie’s footsteps and share its success.
What about Justice League?
Amber Heard appeared in Justice League in 2017 as Mera as well. You do not have to worry about what will happen to the actress in the movie since Justice League 2 won’t happen. It was a failure and didn’t even break even at the box office, so DC decided to shut it down and focus its time on other projects.
