Amber Heard appears in ‘Aquaman 2’ trailer despite doubts

Controversy-plagued Amber Heard has confirmed the release of ‘Aquaman 2’.

The actress was briefly spotted in the first trailer for Warner Bros.’ upcoming ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,’ despite calls for her to be dropped from the franchise. Calls for Mera to be dropped came amid a nasty defamation lawsuit with ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Amber Heard returns for Aquaman 2

Although Heard herself denied that she was removed from the Jason Momoa-starrer action fantasy film, many fans assumed that she was lying to save herself from possible criticism. So it was a rude awakening when the first trailer for the much-anticipated project was presented at CinemaCon and the star of “Pineapple Express” they saw in it.

The trailer featured the blonde celebrity’s character in two brief scenes, including a scene where Mera “fights underwater” without dialogue. The independent reported that the mother of one “has a cameo” in the trailer, “but in a battle scene.”

As it turns out, Heard narrowly missed out on keeping her part in the project, blaming it on her defamation lawsuit against Depp. She told the court that her appearance had been significantly reduced after her former legal team called her allegations of abuse “fake news”.

That claim was quickly refuted by Walter Hamada — DC’s film boss — who testified in court about the “Hidden Palms” actress’ limited screen time. Hamada identified the lack of chemistry between Heard and Momoa as the reason for her weaker screen presence, stating:

“The size of the role in the film was determined by the early development of the script.”

ICYMI, the social activist and her ex-partner spent months arguing in front of a jury over whether the former’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed “I spoke out against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath.” This has to change” was defamatory or not.

A jury ultimately found the defendant defamatory last year and ordered Heard to pay $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The penalty amount was later reduced to $350,000 to comply with the statutory cap.

‘Yes … Until Not’ star agrees to settle defamation lawsuit despite ‘not being hired’

Although Heard and her legal team filed documents in late November 2022 to appeal the court’s ruling, she soon appeared to be re-thinking herself as the winner of the Young Hollywood Awards.

Per The Blastthe 37-year-old beauty took to Instagram on Monday, December 19 to inform the world that she was closing the book on the defamation case with a settlement. The statement awarded at the Scream Awards shared in four slides, it started:

“After much consideration, I have made the very difficult decision to settle the defamation case my ex-husband brought against me in Virginia. It is important to say that I never chose this. I defended my truth and with it my life as I knew it was destroyed.”

She explained that the “vilification” of the trial on social media was an “amplified version” of “women being re-victimized” when they came forward with their stories.

The “Friday Night Lights” actress added that she did not admit to any wrongdoing and that her statement was “not a concession.” After noting that she had lost faith in the US justice system, Heard wrote:

“Meanwhile, I was subjected to a humiliation that I simply cannot relive. Even if my appeal in the US is successful, the best outcome would be a retrial, where a new jury would have to look at the evidence again. I just can’t go through this a third time.”

Ultimately, the “I Wasn’t Prepared” video vixen focused on telling him the truth, and no amount of “threats, discouragement, or talking down about what happened” was going to stop her. In his words:

“No one can and no one will take that away from me. My voice will forever be my most valuable asset.”

Heard noted his statement with praise for his “outstanding appeals and original trial teams for their relentless hard work”.