The ongoing defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp is ongoing, as plenty of harrowing and personal details have come out about both parties. During the course of the trial, Heard revealed that she had also been negatively affected by the revealing of this torrid marriage. According to Heard, she had been given a more substantial role in Aquaman 2, but that role has now been shrunk down to less than 10 minutes of screentime. There are plenty of people who believe that Heard has been lying about her claims of abuse at the hands of Depp. This belief has turned into a massive number of signatures via a petition to get Heard thrown out of the upcoming sequel. Another petition has now been started that sees people want to see Blake Lively in Aquaman instead.

The first petition began sometime time ago, and it was in response to the op-ed piece that Amber Heard wrote which all but named Johnny Depp as her abuser. This led to Depp being fired from the Fantastic Beasts franchise and the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot, at least that is part of Depp’s legal team’s arguments in court. This original petition which saw people begin to side with Depp has grown immensely. It is now over 4.3 million signatures, as more and more people seem to be backing the idea that Heard has been the abuser in the relationship. Now fans are taking it upon themselves to try and bring Blake Lively into Aquaman. All this drama aside, Lively would be an incredible addition to the MCU. She certainly has the acting chops to replace Heard as Mera. The change might also be good for the film as well, as the fallout from this trial is certainly substantial.

Blake Lively is currently busy though, as she is gearing up for her directorial debut, as she is directing a comic adaptation called Seconds. This comic was devised by the same writer who wrote Scott Pilgrim, and Edgar Wright is jumping on the project as a producer. Wright famously directed the fan-favorite film Scott Pilgrim, and he is now going to likely guide Lively as she adapts Bryan Lee O’Malley’s, Seconds. She might not have time to jump into a new franchise, but Blake Lively in Aquaman could theoretically save that movie from disaster. Now that James Wan is a slouch director, the focus of the film has sadly revolved around Amber Heard and her ongoing legal battle with her ex-husband. The drama has been so severe that Wan and Warner Bros have both unfollowed Heard on their social media pages. This distancing could be related to Heard being taken out of the film, or preemptive for her being removed from future iterations of Aquaman.

Blake Lively cast in Aquaman would be a welcomed addition for all parties concerned, but that is likely not to happen right now. She could replace Amber Heard if there is to be an Aquaman 3, but that is going to take some time to even get here. Aquaman 2 is currently in the post-production stages and has a 2023 release date. If the story of Aquaman continues within DC, we will likely not see another Aquaman film until 2025. The petition for Lively to come in is only at a meager 3,600 signatures, so fans better get working if they are to make as much noise as the other petition.