After claiming that she had to fight to remain part of the cast for the upcoming DCEU film, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, DC Films President, Walter Hamada, will now set the record straight. According to a report by Deadline, Hamada will take the stand virtually on Tuesday, May 24, and reportedly denounce Heard’s claims, saying that the Aquaman actress “suffered no negative reaction” resulting from her ongoing legal battles with ex-husband, Johnny Depp. This will contradict what Heard previously said that the studio reduced her role because Warner Bros. no longer wanted her in the film. Hamada’s upcoming statement comes after he clarified that Heard is no longer part of the DCEU due to “concerns about her chemistry with star Jason Momoa.” It remains unclear what the reality of the matter will be. For now, it’s best to assume that Heard will reprise her role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom but that’s it for her role in the DC Extended Universe. Both Heard and Depp have lost projects in recent years. Even if studios will deny that this is the result of their highly publicized kerfuffle, it probably doesn’t help. In Depp’s case, he’s lost his spot in the Fantastic Beasts franchise as Gellert Grindelwald. Mads Mikkelsen later replaced Depp as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. However, it appears that fans have Depp’s back. There are currently multiple petitions with millions of signatures asking for Depp to come back and reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. On the other hand, millions more have signed on to have Heard removed from Aquaman 2. The Depp v. Heard trial is expected to conclude on May 27.
