KEY POINTS
- Amber Heard has a significantly smaller role in "Aquaman 2," film journalist Grace Randolph reports
- The report did not say whether it was a recent decision or if it'd been written that way from the beginning
- A petition to have Heard removed from the project recently passed 2.7 million signatures
Amber Heard's career may be suffering because of her ongoing legal battle with her ex-husband Johnny Depp as a report claims she has a significantly smaller role in the "Aquaman" sequel compared to the first film.
The actress will return as Mera in "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" despite petitions and calls for Warner Bros. to drop her and recast the role.
However, film journalist Grace Randolph reported, citing an unnamed source, that Heard will have less than 10 minutes of screen time in the James Wan-directed superhero flick, which wrapped filming in January.
"I hear Amber Heard has less than 10 [minutes] of screentime in 'Aquaman 2,'" tweeted Randolph, whom TMZ said is "known to get solid comic book movie scoops."
International Business Times could not independently verify this information.
The journalist did not provide further information, including whether Heard's supposed reduced screen time was a recent decision or if it'd been written that way before production began.
The rumor was met with mixed responses on Twitter, with some saying that if the issue was Heard, then producers should have just recast the role.
"It bums me out Mera is getting screwed over like this. She is an amazing character that has such an interesting backstory to the whole 'Aquaman' mythos," one fan commented. "If Amber was the [problem, they should] probably just recast. It’s gonna feel weird 'cause her character seemed more in charge and a leader in 'Aquaman 1.'"
"After making her entrance, Mera appears in nearly every scene in the film. 'Amber and I would always joke that the movie should be called The Adventures of Mera With Her Sidekick Aquaman,' says Wan. 'She has way more superpowers,'" another user tweeted, quoting the director's interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2018.
"I think [Warner Bros.] has [planned it] so that they can cut [Heard's scenes] at the last moment if something goes bad," another speculated.
"Mera is such an AMAZING character. [It's a] shame she has been tainted forever in the eyes of the general public. I'm begging them to recast the role going forward," a fourth person wrote.
The report comes as a Change.org petition to have Heard removed from the project passed 2.7 million signatures amid the highly publicized legal battle between the actress and Depp.
"Men are victims of domestic abuse, just like women. This must be recognized, and action must be taken to prevent a known abuser from being celebrated within the entertainment industry," read the petition, which has 2,782,705 signatures as of writing.
Depp is suing Heard for defamation over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she wrote about surviving domestic abuse. The actor was not named in the piece but argued that it was referring to him and their past relationship and that it ruined his career.
Since Heard made allegations of abuse against him, Depp has lost his roles as Captain Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and Grindelwald in the "Harry Potter" spinoff series "Fantastic Beasts."
Heard, for her part, has insisted that she is telling the truth and filed a countersuit against Depp seeking $100 million.
US actress Amber Heard had a volatile two-year marriage to Hollywood actor Johnny Depp Photo: AFP / DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS
