When Warner Bros Discovery dropped the trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the first film’s best character barely appeared.
Mera is played by Amber Heard. The studio clearly tailored the promo for a world where a lot of people get their news about high-profile court cases from TikTok memes.
We’ve all heard rumors about a chaotic production and numerous changes. It’s hard to say how much is true. Or is it?
Did Heard really accuse costar Jason Momoa of dressing as Johnny Depp, showing up drunk to set, and trying to get her fired?
Variety dropped a deeply upsetting report about chaos behind Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the second (and last) Aquaman film from this last run of DC Comics films.
If the report is true, then a lot of terrible and unjust things happened, some likable people did disappointing things, and one ontologically unlikable person did a weirdly good thing.
And if the report is false, then a campaign of weird disinformation continues. Our guess? We don’t doubt Variety‘s reporting (unless it’s about entertainment industry strikes), but it’s probably a mix of both.
Most of the report stems from Amber Heard’s therapy notes. If that sounds like something that should never have become public, you’re hearing it correctly.
Apparently, a group of Depp stans pooled their money and paid the legal fees for the court to release Heard’s therapy notes.
They painted a grim picture — starting with a reference that her therapist makes to Jason Momoa allegedly wanting Heard fired from the second film.
We should note that he has never made a public statement to this effect.
Additionally, eyewitnesses have spotted the actors on set (albeit in 2021, before the massive disinformation campaign in 2022 surrounding the defamation trial) getting along well.
Some have speculated that this was a fear that Heard felt and expressed to her therapist. Given that much of the world was literally out to get her at the time, that is not difficult to believe — as Barstool Sports notes in their analysis.
Another note from Heard’s private therapy notes is a claim that Momoa showed up to set after drinking.
She also describe him as “Dressing like Johnny. Has all the rings too.”
Some on social media (especially those who just read headlines and invent their own fantastical interpretations of what articles may contain) have taken this to mean that Momoa cosplayed as Johnny Depp to terrorize Heard.
That would be dressing-as-OJ-at-Kris-Jenner’s-Halloween-party levels of awful. Arguably, this would be harassment and intimidation.
Only … in her statements to her therapist, she’s not saying that at all.
It sounds like she’s noting how Momoa’s style of dress reminds her of her infamous ex, right down to the rings. Many have characterized Momoa’s style as “Bohemian,” and we wouldn’t disagree.
So it would naturally remind someone of Depp’s style of dress. Particularly someone who associates him with everyday life rather than with his films, where his style changes according to roles.
Why would this be something that she brings up to a therapist?
Plenty of people would bring up a coworker reminding them of an ex in unsettling ways. It doesn’t mean that the coworker is bad, but simply that it brings out upsetting thoughts.
And it can feel frustrating, because you can’t tell someone “Hey, can you change this thing about you? It reminds me of a s–tty guy I used to know.” So, instead, you vent to your therapist.
There are also mentions of Director James Wan allegedly not being supportive. Or, rather, blaming her for the backlash against her that made it impossible to discuss Aquaman on social media for a time.
And Variety also reports that the studio cut scenes of Heard. One in which Queen Mera battles Black Manta, and another in which Mera and Arthur (Momoa’s character) shared a love scene.
To most people, the least believable part of this story is the idea that Elon Musk swooped in to rescue Heard from DC’s alleged push to fire her. One wild claim says that his attorney sent a strongly-worded letter that kept Heard employed.
One would like to believe that WBD/DC was not planning to fire her, particularly when she was under siege by a coordinated PR campaign.
But the truly does-not-sound-plausible part is the idea of Musk exerting pressure on her behalf. It could be true, but it sounds fake.
We’re not saying that he couldn’t. Deranged billionaires can get do a lot of damage.
He does enough of it through blundering, so intentionally going to war with a studio sounds like a real threat. (Though it’s not hard to imagine Musk causing an enemy to flourish, out of incompetence)
The part that seems impossible to believe is that Musk would do a good thing for someone. Especially for an ex. His public behavior illustrates very clearly that this is not who he is.
Some people have vowed to not see this second Aquaman film because Heard is still part of the cast. Yes, despite a lot of debunking, a lot of people got their defamation trial news from stan TikTok and never looked back.
Others are uncertain if they will see it for the opposite reason. A fight between Mera and Black Manta sounds incredible, and efforts to scrub Heard from promos and the film itself strike many as malicious. Or, at best, cowardly.
And finally, there are people who struggle to care about a dead iteration of the franchise. We’re getting a new, more coherent continuity of DC films under James Gunn. It’s a shame — Aquaman (2018) is my favorite live-action DC film of all time.
Did Amber Heard Accuse Jason Momoa of Dressing as Johnny Depp and Trying to Get Her Fired … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
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