Amber Heard is facing backlash for her role in Aquaman 2 and her public statements about the film. She has experienced a significant loss of followers on social media, reportedly due to an Instagram post where she thanked fans for their support. Heard’s gratitude seems to have backfired as she began with over 5.3 million followers, which experienced a drastic drop. According to reports by Not Just Analytics, she lost thousands of followers after her Instagram post on January 4, 2024. This scenario is reportedly described as part of a larger PR push that is not only failing to improve her public image but exacerbating the situation.
Amber Heard loses thousands of followers over Instagram post
On January 4, 2024, Amber Heard took to her Instagram to post behind-the-scenes photos from Aquaman 2 and thanked her fans for their support in her return as Mera in the movie, despite the production impediments. “After all this time, Aquaman 2 made its splash (sorry, it’s too easy) Thank you to all of my fans for the overwhelming support and love in Mera’s AQ return. Thank you so much #aquaman,” she wrote in the post.
Heard, in her 2022 defamation trial involving Johnny Depp, claimed Warner Bros. minimized her role in the Aquaman sequel due to her divorce controversy. She also expressed frustrations about script changes. According to her, she was given a script that included scenes featuring her character, Mera engaging in action, specifically depicting a fight between her character and another. However, as time progressed, Heard received new versions of the script where these action scenes were noticeably reduced or removed entirely.
“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 any spoiler away, two characters fighting with one another, and they basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch out,” Heard said.
James Wan addresses Heard’s role in Aquaman 2
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the final DCEU film, faced significant controversy, leading to Amber Heard’s dissatisfaction with the minimization of her role in the movie. Speaking with Empire Magazine (via The Direct), director James Wan defended his choice to have Mera play a smaller role in the sequel than she did in the original Aquaman.
Wan claimed Heard’s complaints were fair, saying, “Actors don’t necessarily know what we [directors] behind the scenes are thinking about.” According to Wan, the decision to make Heard have a reduced part in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was due to the sequel not being “an action-adventure romantic comedy” but “an outright buddy comedy” between Arthur Curry and Orm.
He said, “It’s fair that [Heard] said that [about the character being pared down], because she wasn’t in my head as I was working on this movie. Actors don’t necessarily know what we [directors] behind the scenes are thinking about. But this was always my plan. From the start, I pitched that the first film would be a ‘Romancing The Stone’-type thing — an action-adventure romantic comedy — while the second would be an outright buddy comedy. I wanted to do ‘Tango & Cash!'”
ALSO READ: ‘She wasn’t in my head’ Aquaman director revealed why he reduced Amber Heard’s role from the movie
