After the successful debut of the first film, which is an understatement given the fact that it grossed $1.148 billion at the box office, James Wan will soon embark on another challenging journey to helm the long-awaited Aquaman 2.
Alas, even before going into production, the movie is facing scrutiny. In case you’ve somehow blissfully missed all the controversy that’s transpired over the course of the last year between actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard, the allegations of physical domestic abuse and two separate court cases in the United States and the UK have made things increasingly difficult for Warner Bros. to work with either actor. Just over a month ago, in fact, the studio cut ties with the Pirates of the Caribbean star after he lost his libel case against The Sun, recasting Grindelwald for Fantastic Beasts 3.
Now, a lot of folks on the internet are campaigning to see Heard suffer the same treatment. In fact, the petition to remove her from Aquaman 2 is nearing a staggering 2 million signatures. And while WB has yet to announce any plans to hire another actress for the role, it seems that they’re trying to come up with a compromise.
According to Grace Randolph, the host of the Beyond The Trailer YouTube channel, the studio is bringing on another female lead to balance things out.
“Some of you are asking re Amber Heard – as I told you before, they are bringing on this new female lead to balance things out, and writing the script so that Heard’s role can be cut down if needed. But as of right now she’s still in Aquaman 2,” the journalist wrote on her Twitter feed.Â
As we learned last month, Warner Bros. may not be able to fire the London Fields star if it comes to it due to her contract. What they can do, however, is find a way to sideline her character in favor of a newcomer in Aquaman 2. To what extent they’ll do so, though, is anyone’s guess at this point.
