The saga surrounding Warner Bros.' Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom continues to be prominent in the news stream thanks to the civil lawsuit involving Mera actress Amber Heard. For the last few months, fans have followed the legal battle between Heard and her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, as the trial became something of a must-see event for weeks on end.
The results from this event seemed to have a blowback effect with regard to Heard's upcoming appearance as Mera, which is also the only project she has lined up for the foreseeable future.
Amongst news about the verdict, rumors have varied widely about what will happen with Heard's role in Aquaman 2 - some saying it will be expanded on, while others say it's being removed from the film altogether. While nothing will be revealed until the movie releases in full next year, Heard's place in the story will continue to be a topic of discussion in the months leading up to that event.
And in the latest news surrounding this trial, it may not even be over yet after a recent development revealed what Heard and her legal team plan to do moving forward.
Amber Heard Mistrial?
Deadline reported that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom star Amber Heard and her legal team plan to request a new trial for her civil suit against Johnny Depp.
According to the claim, Heard's legal team believes that one of the jurors meant to be on the panel for Heard's trial ended up being a different person than the one initially summoned.
“Ms. Heard had a right to rely on the basic protection, as prescribed by the Virginia Code, that the jurors in this trial would be individuals who were actually summoned for jury duty."
They now feel that the trial was compromised due to this mistake and have called for a mistrial to be declared before a new trial commences.
“In this case, it appears that Juror No. 15 was not, in fact, the same individual as listed on the jury panel. Ms. Heard’s due process was therefore compromised. Under these circumstances, a mistrial should be declared, and a new trial ordered.”
The summons was reportedly sent to a Virginia resident in April after the trial had been delayed for most of the last three years. However, it appeared that there were two people with at least the same last name, one of them 77 years old and the other 52 years old.
The 77-year-old was the person summoned, but it was the other one that reportedly went on the jury after not appearing on the initial jury summons list:
“Thus, the 52-year-old- (redacted) sitting on the jury for six weeks was never summoned for jury duty on April 11 and did not ‘appear in the list,’ as required."
None of the officers or court clerks noticed this error, and the report noted that the online information form either intentionally or accidentally said that the person on the jury was born in 1945.
This claim comes as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom dives deep into post-production and editing work ahead of its March 2023 release.
More Legal Battles Ahead of Aquaman 2?
Amber Heard continues to spend considerable time in the spotlight, even though it's not for the greatest reasons, with this trial still such a big piece of news.
At the moment, there are no indications that Heard's role in the sequel will be recast, although fans worldwide are already sharing their options for who should replace her if that actually happens. But the fact that Heard and her team are working so hard to earn her a victory in this legal battle against Johnny Depp is yet another thing that will take the attention off the movie itself and keep this fight in the news streams.
With the request being only a request right now, there's no way to tell whether Heard and her team will actually get their shot at redemption in court or if they'll get what they feel is a fair shot at a positive verdict. Even so, after this battle already became one of the most high-profile celebrity events of the last several years, fans will continue to pay close attention to what Heard's fate is in the industry.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will debut in theaters on March 17, 2023.
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