Amber Heard Thanks Fans for ‘Overwhelming Support’ After ‘Aquaman 2’ Release

Amber Heard is grateful to her fans after the long-awaited release of Aquaman 2. The sequel, officially titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, was released on Dec. 22 and stars Heard as Mera and Jason Momoa as the title character.

On Wednesday, Heard shared Instagram snaps rocking her famous long red Mera wig and added the caption, "After all this time, Aquaman 2 made its splash (sorry, it’s too easy) 💦 "

She continued, "Thank you to all of my fans for the overwhelming support and love in Mera’s AQ return. Thank you so much❤️ #aquaman"

The gratitude follows an unusual degree of controversy over Heard's role.

It was confirmed back in 2020, despite rumors to the contrary, that Heard would return in the sequel. However, her character, Mera, Arthur Curry's wife and the Queen of Atlantis, is barely in the film.

Heard spoke about her role during her ex-husband Johnny Depp's $50 million defamation lawsuit against her in May. During the trial, which was decided largely in Depp's favor, Heard told jurors she had to fight to keep her Aquaman 2 role, which she claimed was pared down because of Depp's accusations that her abuse claims against him were a "hoax."

"I was given a script, then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it," Heard testified. "That depicted my character and another character — without giving any spoilers away — two characters fighting with one another. They basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch."

Walter Hamada, president of DC Films at Warner Bros., also testified in the trial and disputed that her role was reduced due to the drama with Depp. In fact, Hamada denied that Heard's role was minimized at all, maintaining that the film had always been pitched as a "buddy comedy" between Jason Momoa's titular superhero and Patrick Wilson's Orm, the villain from the first film. However, Hamada did admit that there were discussions of possibly recasting Heard due to an "issue of chemistry" with Momoa.

In October, Variety reported that Warner Bros. decided not to replace Heard because the actress's billionaire ex-boyfriend, Elon Musk, sent the studio a note threatening to go "scorched earth" if the Texas-born star didn't make an appearance in the film.