“I thought the original script was great”: Aquaman 2 Star Dolph Lundgren Claims WB Axed Superior Cut to Save Movie from Johnny Depp Fans
Aquaman 2 or Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, marks the sad end of DCEU as James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe takes off this year with the animated Max show Creature Commandos, before Superman: Legacy arrives in 2025. It was the 15th film and final installment in DC’s Snyderverse and starred Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry / Aquaman, alongside Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Randall Park, Dolph Lundgren, Temuera Morrison, Martin Short, and Nicole Kidman.
Although its predecessor crossed the billion-dollar mark quickly at the box office, Aquaman 2 has only managed to collect a mere $375 million worldwide so far. Even notwithstanding the controversies, there was something about the film that did not sit well with the audience. Well, it seems like Dolph Lundgren has the answer, as he feels Warner Bros.’s decision to run scissors on the original cut of Aquaman 2 might have been the curse.
Aquaman 2 Star Dolph Lundgren Is Not Happy About The Final Cut Of The Movie
Aquaman 2 was a doomed project from the very beginning due to its inclusion of Amber Heard during the worst media trial of her life. Amber Heard and Johnny Depp went through a very messy public separation and what followed was dragging each other in the mud in courts and one defamation lawsuit after the other. The defamation lawsuit did more damage to Heard than the iceberg did to the Titanic and that is saying a lot. Following the suit, Amber Heard was hounded on social media and many were asking for her to be excluded from her upcoming film, Aquaman 2.
Also Read: Aquaman 2 Has One Silver Lining to its Terrible Box-Office Run That Even Eclipses Black Panther 2
Johnny Depp fans were absolutely livid when the news broke that Amber Heard, in fact, would be staying on the project and reprising her role as Meera. Many Depp fans wanted to boycott the movie so ultimately, WB had to reduce Heard’s role significantly in the movie. WB had to basically reshape the entire movie, which was quite distinct from the original version, despite James Wan claiming it was not that much different. Aquaman 2 star Dolph Lundgren was particularly unhappy about it because he felt his role was reduced.
Lundregn appears in the Aquaman films as Nereus, the king of the Atlantean tribe of Xebel, who is also the father of Amber Heard’s character in the movie Meera. He recently told ComicBook.com that because the film cuts off most of the roles of Meera, the female protagonist, and Aquaman’s love interest, his role was reduced significantly. He also felt that the original cut was far superior and that the audience missed out on a great film because of Warner Bros.’s desperate attempt to escape public anger.
“I just realized that it was some kind of corporate decision that they try to limit Amber Heard and then I’m playing her dad and went along with it. I was just disappointed for the moviegoers, because I thought the original script was great and the original cut — I saw a little bit of it, it was really good. So I didn’t see any reason to start reshooting and reshaping the story, which obviously led to disappointment in the moviegoers and not just me.”
Amber Heard claimed in court during her 2022 defamation trial that because of her divorce from Johnny Depp, WB “didn’t want to include” her. She also mentioned her role was “pared down” and action scenes were “taken away” as a consequence of the divorce. However, James Wan mentioned to EW last year that the film was never meant to focus on Meera and Aquaman but rather on Aquaman’s relationship with his villainous half-brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson).
Aquaman 2 Box Office Collection Leaves Many DC Films Behind Despite Not Getting Near The Billion-Dollar Mark As Its Predecessor
Aquaman 2 swims towards the shoreline and leaves all DC films from 2023 behind to become the fourth most successful superhero film of the year. Aquaman 2 trails slightly behind Marvel’s Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Also Read: Aquaman 2 Post Credits Scene is the Most Disgusting Ever in Comic Book History
Its earnings even surpassed DC’s triumph, The Flash, featuring Ezra Miller and Black Adam. So far, it is standing at the $377 million mark and if it manages to surpass the $390 million of Black Adam, it would officially become the second highest-grossing DC film after Aquaman.
YouTube Movies has confirmed that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be available for purchase from Tuesday, January 23 onward.
