It’s official: more than four million names have been added to that popular petition for Amber Heard’s role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to be recast. The petition, which you can find at Change.org, has experienced a surge in popularity in recent weeks because of the televised defamation trial involving Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp. Ahead of the trial, there were around 1.8 million signatures, and in a matter of weeks, that number has more than doubled with the petition surpassing four million signatures on Friday.

The petition claims that Heard “has been exposed as a domestic abuser” by evidence introduced by Depp. It also cites “fabricated incidents of Johnny Depp hitting her” when she was allegedly the aggressor. The petition also notes the horrific finger injury sustained by Depp, which he says Heard allegedly caused by throwing a glass vodka bottle at him. They also say that the evidence has not been consistent with Heard’s accounts of Depp abusing her, pointing to photos, videos, and audiotapes that seemingly support Depp’s version of events.

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Asking as many people as possible to sign the petition, the creator asks for Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment to “remove Heard from their Aquaman 2 film project” so as not to “ignore the suffering of Heard’s victims” and “glamorize a domestic abuser.” The idea is that it was unfair for Warner Bros. to cut ties with Depp by recasting his role in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore while keeping Heard on board for Aquaman 2.

Amber Heard Might Have Reduced Screen Time in Aquaman 2

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Whether all of this will result in Amber Heard actually getting removed from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom remains to be seen. There are rumors that her role has been heavily reduced to less than ten minutes of total screen time. Many fans are saying this is not good enough, calling for a full removal by signing the petition. No one from Warner Bros. has weighed in on the petition since this recent surge in popularity, but in 2021, producer Peter Safran had declared that Heard would stay in the film, regardless of any petition or social media movement calling for a change.

As Safran said on the Deadline Hero Podcast:

These comments were made when there were less than two million signatures on the petition, and it’s possible that the movement more than doubling in size may have studio heads reconsidering their position. With that said, the film has already wrapped and reshoots would be pretty costly, making a full-on recasting of Heard’s role rather difficult. The outcome of the trial may also affect the final decision as well, depending upon if Depp wins his case.