After some delays, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom finally began shooting in the UK yesterday. Director James Wan marked the occasion by posting an image of the clapperboard, revealing that its production name is “Necrus” and hinting that at least part of the movie will be set in an icy polar region. Fans of Arthur Curry and the DCEU celebrated, though this has also caused much gnashing of teeth from those trying to cancel Amber Heard.
The last few years have seen an incredibly fierce legal tussle between Heard and her former husband Johnny Depp. Things came to a head in late 2020 when Depp lost a much-publicized case in London, where the court ruled it’s not libelous to describe him as a “wife beater”. Though there is an impending defamation case in Virginia next year, Heard is currently riding high.
That’s intolerable to Depp fans, who have launched a furious online campaign against her. This has included multiple petitions asking Warner Bros to fire her and campaigns to recast Emilia Clarke in the role. They also spread false rumors that Heard failed her physical, that she broke her contract, that she’s uninsurable, that her role was being drastically reduced, and so on and so forth. None of that amounted to anything, though they did manage to get “Amber Heard” trending on Twitter yesterday. Here’s a selection of how it went down:
https://twitter.com/defnoodles/status/1409615366062366724?s=20
Hearing that Hearing that
Aquaman 2 Amber Heard
started filming is in it pic.twitter.com/nEuwjiyomS— NUFF (@nuffsaidny) June 28, 2021
oh it’s so satisfying seeing literally all of twitter hating on amber heard pic.twitter.com/EnWISkYPVK
— tori/luna ☾ ☼ ∞ | 💀🌹⏳atz nyc!! (@youtubersmw) June 28, 2021
When you see that Warner Bros kept Amber Heard onboard for Aquaman 2 but still haven't brought back Johnny Deep for 'Fantastic Beast' pic.twitter.com/39Dq1whFth
— Tony Rueda (@ARueda21) June 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/hisokas_gf_real/status/1409594543931002880?s=20
Johnny Depp is innocent.
Amber Heard is a liar.
That is all.#justiceforjohnnydepp pic.twitter.com/Wp0Pam6Rvo
— inchhighPI (@SouthernGirlTea) June 25, 2021
The fact that Amber Heard still has a career should be classified as a hate crime.. pic.twitter.com/JBBsf1ZFlC
— inktalkspop (@Inkiadk) June 28, 2021
Not one dollar to @wbpictures as long as Amber Heard is still employed.#JusticeForJohnnyDepp #AmberHeardIsALiar pic.twitter.com/pqq9o07IbV
— inchhighPI (@SouthernGirlTea) June 28, 2021
i see amber heard is still going to be on aquaman 2 after abusing johnny depp … some things just never change in this world we live in. pic.twitter.com/4i6LwpNifi
— Johnny (@ItsJohnny05) June 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/SatorouShill/status/1406998732575498241?s=20
https://twitter.com/tara79991/status/1409665643981377542?s=20
Giving companies like Warner Brothers a FREE PASS because "other people work on movies too" is a TERRIBLE TAKE.
You REWARD them:
– backing false accusers like Amber Heard
– TARGETING victims of domestic abuse like Depp
– telling MILLIONS to F-off because "not my consumer." pic.twitter.com/K231VTqKy7— ThatUmbrellaGuy (@ThatUmbrella) June 28, 2021
Warner Bros. Pictures decided to keep Amber Heard for "Aquaman 2" film.
Me: #AmberHeard pic.twitter.com/D1jTcyxty0— Mario 🇺🇸 (@mariowillis_10) June 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/KingBryceSays/status/1409766202855989249?s=20
I’m still of the opinion that any boycott will likely fail, simply because while the Amber Heard haters are indeed loud I doubt they’ll have much impact on the movie’s bottom line. In addition, the first Aquaman was a smash-hit internationally, doing particularly well in the coveted Chinese market. Will international audiences care about the personal life of who’s playing Mera? Somehow I doubt it.
At this point the only thing that could torpedo this movie is a significant legal defeat for Heard – if she lost the upcoming Virginia case it could leave Warner Bros in a tricky situation. But, for now, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is defying cancel culture and will hit theaters on December 16, 2022.