Amber Heard has paid tribute to her fans following the long-awaited release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
The sequel, which was delayed several times before eventually arriving in cinemas at the end of last year, saw the 37-year-old actor reprise her role of superheroine Mera from 2018’s Aquaman, the highest-grossing DC Studios movie in history.
In a new Instagram post, Heard wrote: “After all this time, Aquaman 2 made its splash (sorry, it’s too easy)
“Thank you to all of my fans for the overwhelming support and love in Mera’s AQ return. Thank you so much”.
The film also stars Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Nicole Kidman. DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran revealed recently that Momoa’s performance represented “potentially [his] last stand as Aquaman.”
In a one-star review of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey wrote: “While Heard is in far more of The Lost Kingdom than its highly suspect promotional campaign had hinted at (which, coupled with reports of her alleged on-set treatment, paints a truly grim picture of how abuse survivors are still treated), her character also suffers from an irritating bit of faux-feminism.
“Mera is shoved aside until it’s narratively convenient to have a ‘girl power’ moment, in which the whole film comes to a halt as if expecting the audience to leap to its feet and clap.”
In 2022, Heard became embroiled in a highly-publicised legal battle with her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, who sued Heard for $50m (£38.2m) for implying he abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. After a six-week trial, the jury determined Heard defamed Depp on all three counts and awarded him $10m (£8.2m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£4.1m) in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2m (£1.6m) in compensatory damages.
Heard then filed a notice of appeal one month after the initial verdict, with her attorney citing “errors” made by the court. However, she decided to withdraw the appeal in December, calling the decision to settle with Depp “very difficult”, and something that had required “a great deal of deliberation”.
Since then, the Rum Diary star has reportedly “quit Hollywood” in search of more privacy. After the bombshell defamation trial revealed details about the actor’s personal life - as well as an online frenzy that was largely skewed against Heard - she has since sold her home in California and relocated to Madrid, Spain.
