Amber Heard Claims That Warner Bros. Wanted To Cut Her Aquaman 2 Role Completely

Amber Heard claims that her role as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was reduced by Warner Bros. Heard first appeared in Zack Snyder's Justice League before moving on to a bigger role in James Wan's solo film Aquaman.

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Heard was prominently featured in Aquaman, almost as a co-lead, alongside Jason Momoa as the titular character and Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Willem Dafoe, and Nicole Kidman.

Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post shortly after her divorce from actor Johnny Depp, implying that Depp had abused her during their relationship, prompting Depp to file several lawsuits, including a libel lawsuit against The Sun he lost.

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Depp then sued Heard for defamation, and the case is currently in court. Fans petitioned to have Heard removed from the Aquaman sequel after receiving backlash for her op-ed. The actress was brought back for the film, though it now appears that her role will be much smaller than it was the first time around.

Heard testified today (via CBS News) that Warner Bros. initially did not want the actress to reprise her role.

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Heard claims that she "fought really hard" to get into the movie and that she was given multiple scripts, with later versions removing scenes with her character, including action sequences.

According to Heard on the stand, the actress's role in Aquaman 2 has been "pared down."

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Lawyer: Have you participated in Aquaman 2?

Heard: I have.

Lawyer: And tell us about that.

Heard: I had to fight to--I fought really hard to stay in the movie. They didn't want to include me in the film.

Lawyer: Were you ultimately able to film in Aquaman 2?

Heard: A very pared-down version of that role, yes.

Lawyer: What if anything changed in the script?

Heard: I was given a script. And then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another. They basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch.

Heard most recently appeared in Zack Snyder's Justice League, released on HBO Max last year and included scenes not seen in the theatrical version.

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While a fan petition to have her removed gained traction when her legal troubles began (it now has 4.1 million signatures), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom producers stated that they would not respond to fan pressure when it came to bringing Heard back for the sequel, saying that they had to "do what's right for the film" even if they were aware of the controversy.

Despite the backlash, Heard was brought back, and while working on the sequel, she shared images of her preparation and a few bts images.

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Regardless of the outcome of Heard and Depp's defamation trial, both actors have been subjected to public scrutiny due to their highly publicized cases.

Depp has already been passed over for the role of Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and a sixth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

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Now, the pendulum has swung back in Heard's favor, as WB already has enough fires to put out with The Flash star Ezra Miller and deal with their new shake-up with the Discovery merger, which is already upheaving their TV and theatrical slates.

With the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom set for 2023, anything could happen in terms of how much (or if) Mera appears in the final cut.