Amber Heard breaks silence on Aquaman 2 amid controversial return to role

Amber Heard has spoken up for the first time about her return to the DC Extended Universe for the second Aquaman film.

Heard – as most will probably remember – has recently come out of a cross-continental legal battle with her ex-husband Johnny Depp, and is now back working in the movie industry.

Meanwhile, DC have had their own stuff to deal with, as The Flash has been a bit of a flop partially due to Ezra Miller taking the starring role whilst also involved in some controversy as well.

Whilst Heard and Depp are both trying to bounce back into their careers, Heard is taking on the massive challenge of stepping back into a big and successful franchise that is worth ‘millions and millions’ of dollars.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom sees Heard back starring as Mera, who is admittedly not a lead character like in Miller’s Flash flick.

Still, the 37-year-old clearly has high hopes for the DCEU movie.

Comparing it to her latest film In the Fire, Heard said during an interview with Deadline: “These are very different kinds of projects representing two very different ends of the spectrum in my industry.

"There's a ton of pressure on these big franchise movies, with millions and millions of dollars at stake, and compromises are part of trying to make it the most successful thing it can be.

DC/Warner Bros.

“Then on the other end of the spectrum is a small indie film like In The Fire, a work of art and work of love, with nowhere near the same resources, and so there are compromises there.”

She continued: “The best luck you can have as an actor is to be able to balance both. Aquaman, that franchise and the machinery behind it, I'm very honored, honored to be a part of that.

"And then there are these small passion projects like In The Fire, where I'm proud to have gotten to know the filmmaker and the cast, and we got dirty together, to breathe life into this story.

“There's something cool about that, and I think success is an actor who is able to have both those things."

The first Aquaman movie became the highest-grossing movie in DC’s whole cinematic universe after it was released in 2018, so there will be big expectation on this next instalment.

DC/Warner Bros.

It remains to be seen whether Heard and her colleagues can pull it off.

The film will also star Jason Momoa as the titular hero, as well as Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman, Yahya Abdul Mateen II, and Temuera Morrison.

It’s slated for release on December 20 2023, following a number of production setbacks and – obviously – the Covid-19 pandemic.

There's a lot riding on the film for both Heard and the DC Universe in general.