This year hasn’t been the best for Warner. Despite Barbie being a big success and giving them some breathing room, we can’t overlook the fact that most of their titles have been failures in 2023, and the major culprit for all of it is the direction the DC Comics movies have taken. While we hope James Gunn fixes everything, we can’t help but face the failures that Shazam! 2, Blue Beetle, and The Flash have been.
But, of course, that’s not all. There was still one more movie to add to the equation this year: Aquaman 2. And everything seems to indicate that it will follow the same path… or even worse. But if the first Aquaman was a success, what has happened with this sequel? Well, beyond the general fatigue of this universe, there is a controversy that has also contributed to this situation… and her name is Amber Heard.
A study full of issues
In the midst of the controversy depicted by Netflix in Depp vs. Heard, that is, Amber Heard’s allegations against Johnny Depp, which ended in Depp’s victory, Warner had a problem with Amber Heard. She was the co-star of Aquaman 2 alongside Jason Momoa, but her reputation had declined so much that it was a bad idea to have her on set… and on top of that, she had a terrible relationship with Momoa, who even appeared on set dressed as Depp to annoy her.
All of this led to a very difficult situation that made Warner not want to have her for the sequel. However, someone intervened: Elon Musk. That’s right, the magnate who owns Twitter is also Heard’s ex-boyfriend, and apparently, they maintained a good relationship for a while, which led the director to threaten Warner.
That’s right, as reported by Variety through an anonymous tip-off, Musk sent a letter to Warner’s lawyers, promising to have his attorneys “turn everything upside down” if the studio didn’t bring Amber back for Aquaman 2. At that point, however, Warner had already parted ways with Depp from Fantastic Beasts, so they had to take a stance… and they succumbed to the threats of the magnate.
