Johnny Depp fans' efforts to sack Amber Heard from Aquaman 2 'Carried no water': Producers

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's legal battles have been making headlines since 2016. Following their very public divorce and subsequent lawsuits of domestic abuse and defamation, Depp was asked to resign from Warner Bros.' Fantastic Beasts franchise. In retaliation, fans started a social media campaign to get Amber Heard removed from the upcoming Aquaman 2, however, recent reports claim that was never going to happen. 

Amber Heard was always going to be in Aquaman 2

According to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom producer Peter Safran, the film was going to feature Amber Heard, no matter the social media hate from Johnny Depp's supporters. While speaking on the Deadline Hero Nation podcast, Safran spoke about not reacting to "fan pressure," and mentioned how they were "never going to" let that affect the future of the films or the casting decisions. Safran also explained:

You gotta do what’s best for the movie. We felt that if it’s James Wan, and Jason Momoa, it should be Amber Heard. That’s really what it was. One is not unaware of what is going on in the Twitter-verse, but that doesn’t mean you have to react to it or take it as gospel or accede to their wishes.  You have to do what’s right for the film, and that’s really where we landed on it.

Johnny Depp's fans campaign against Amber Heard on social media

On June 28, Aquaman 2 filmmaker James Wan announced that filming for the upcoming sequel would soon be underway. The announcement led to the revival of the "#JusticeForJohnnyDepp" campaign on Twitter. Several fans called for Heard's dismissal from Aquaman 2, owing to the estranged couple's public legal battles.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have both accused one another of domestic violence, with the former also filing a defamation lawsuit against his ex and another UK libel trial against The Sun. The court dismissed Depp’s claim, ruling in favour of The Sun‘s allegations against the actor. Following the verdict, WB replaced Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. 

Amber Heard, on the other hand, facing charges of defamation was last seen in Zack Snyder's Justice League and will reprise her role in Aquaman 2. The estranged couple's case is scheduled to go to trial in Fairfax County, Virginia in April 2022. 

IMAGE - AP