Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom

[ZariusTwo]

Title for the Aquaman sequel confirmed on James Wan's Instagram

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a36690839/aquaman-2-lost-kingdom-title-revealed/

[Andrew NDB]

It's wrapped.

https://www.darkhorizons.com/aquaman-sequel-officially-wraps-filming/

[Leo656]

Wow, and only what... Three years since anyone gave a sh*t?:lol:

Ah well. Probably be good. But it's pretty clear what their "strategy" is: Just drag most of the movies with Snyder's cast out until everyone's too old, or until the fans are apathetic, then recast and start over.

[Andrew NDB]

Just drag most of the movies with Snyder's cast out until everyone's too old, or until the fans are apathetic, then recast and start over.

Which is riiiight about when "The Batman 3" would be dropping.

[Andrew NDB]

As mentioned elsewhere, Aquaman 2 has been delayed into next year:

https://collider.com/aquaman-2-release-date-delayed-the-lost-kingdom/

So damn. It really will be 5 years between Aquaman movies. I was joking about that a couple years ago... yet here they go. What a great way to keep an audience.

Also... is all of this because of Superman and the impending Discovery merger with WB?

https://comicbook.com/dc/news/warner-bros-delays-the-flash-aquaman-2-2023/?fbclid=IwAR1JAFTaPlxrjtF_ywdwrtQMiBBbtS52JRO5mFaW 6r6wYggxlquqzhSpTcg

[Coola Yagami]

So is Amber **** still in it?

[ZariusTwo]

So is Amber **** still in it?

Yes, there's never been any attempt to move her out of the picture

[IMJ]

Yes, there's never been any attempt to move her out of the picture

Because there is no inherent leftist anger towards a woman who assaults a white man; and the rest of society don't run around witch hunting and scarlet lettering through "cancellation".

[MikeandRaph87]

This is the one I have been looking forward to. Filming has wrapped, why does it need extra time in post-production?

[Andrew NDB]

This is the one I have been looking forward to. Filming has wrapped, why does it need extra time in post-production?

Reshoots to add Henry Cavill. :)

[MikeandRaph87]

Reshoots to add Henry Cavill. :)

Oh, okay. I was getting the idea that Henry was quietly parted with Warner Bros. I am firm on my preference that the characters look the part as much as possible, but Aquaman did something that really impressed me. It was the tone. I kept waiting for Thomas Curry to be murdered and the limitations of Aquaman in viable characters and plot direction never hampered it. The tone was not dark, it was not family friendly goofy. It was perfect. Something I have not seen since say Guardians of The Galaxy or perhaps better the Raimi/McGuire Spider-Man films, although one of my praises for the latter is the comic accurate looks, something Aquaman lacks and I somehow can overlook.

[Leo656]

He's kidding, bro.

Pretty sure Cavill wouldn't answer WB's calls anymore even if they wanted him back (which they don't since they've already got Michael B. Jordan waiting in the wings to play Superman). Cavill's got enough going on, and the last anyone heard he was trying to get involved with the MCU as a way to get back at WB for snubbing him.

Cavill as Superman will not be seen again. Not unless there's a HUGE shift in priority at WB. Cavill keeps saying he's just waiting for the call but I'm pretty sure that's just for the fans. It's been five years; he's out.

[Leo656]

Well in 2022 every white person is Hitler unless they're gay, so that's what you're getting. Tough rocks, pal.

[Andrew NDB]

Cavill as Superman will not be seen again. Not unless there's a HUGE shift in priority at WB.

Which, from every indication, is absolutely coming with the Discovery merger (which basically equates to Discovery taking over). Does this mean the Discovery people are in love with the Snyder-verse? Not necessarily. But maybe they're not in love with whatever the f*** WB is doing now.

Oh, okay. I was getting the idea that Henry was quietly parted with Warner Bros.

"Henry parting ways with WB," "Cavill walks away from Superman"... all of these headlines are as stupid today as they were when they first started coming out 2-3years ago now. He can't "part ways" with WB because he isn't a WB employee and doesn't have a contract. He can't "walk away from Superman" because there isn't currently any Superman movies or DC movies with Superman appearances in them -- there's nothing to walk away from! It'd be like if WB decided to never greenlight a Wonder Woman 3, and then there's suddenly articles about, "Gal Gadot walks away from Wonder Woman." wtf are you talking about? That isn't the way this works.

[Leo656]

Means nothing. Not unless those people all REALLY loved "Man of Steel".

[Andrew NDB]

Means nothing. Not unless those people all REALLY loved "Man of Steel".

Might be a gray area, for all we know. Like, they really love Henry Cavill as Superman but maybe not Snyder's take on Superman. So... soft reboot. But who knows?

[Leo656]

We'll see.

Hope is the most irrational of all human emotions.

[Coola Yagami]

Yes, there's never been any attempt to move her out of the picture

Gotta love the double-standard. They sure as hell didn't waste time removing Depp from his projects before they even had time to so much as look into the allegations.

[Leo656]

He's a trash person too though. People find him charming so they overlook his many, many faults. They're both garbage. Just different reasons. I'm sad they didn't kill each other.

At least I can masturbate to Amber Heard. So at least she serves a purpose.

[MikeandRaph87]

Well in 2022 every white person is Hitler unless they're gay, so that's what you're getting. Tough rocks, pal.

I know and I am racist for my opinion that Catwoman and Commissioner Gordon are not comic accurate however neither is The Riddler with his hazmat suit with glasses.

Still, what images or still do we have from Aquaman 2?

What can be done beyond Black Manta and Ocean Master? Hopefully Thomas Curry is allowed to survive the film.

[Andrew NDB]

Still, what images or still do we have from Aquaman 2?


I think just these:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9663764/mediaindex

[Leo656]

I know and I am racist for my opinion that Catwoman and Commissioner Gordon are not comic accurate

She's also bi in the movie because every woman in media has to be, now. :lol:

I mean, I'm well aware that all women are gay/bi anyway, no matter what they say, but I'm also not sure what, if anything, that little tidbit of information added to the plot of the movie. Pretty sure it's just something they put in there to score points with a certain section of the audience who'd loudly piss and moan otherwise.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm done with comic book movies/TV shows (and most movies and TV shows in general) until they get this sh*t out of their system. And I have no faith that's gonna be anytime soon. Thankfully, movies and TV existed for several decades before I showed up and so there's a ton of stuff I haven't seen yet, as well as plenty of stuff I'm fine re-watching. It would be nice to get new stuff I could enjoy, but as anyone my age has to hear day after day anymore, "You Are Not The Audience, The World Has Moved On And You (And Your Money) Are No Longer Valued."

So, y'know, whatever. Like I said, it's fine. I have plenty to keep me occupied, and also, don't actually plan to live very long. :lol:

[Sumac]

A year of delay?
Amazing WB, amazing.

[MikeandRaph87]

Well, according to the film the character is biracial. Try casting a Caucasian actress and pull that.


In the DC thread, I have been asking about back issue bin purchases. I have been getting a lot out back issue bins and filling out my Silver-Bronze runs. Just got the 1st League of Assassins (stabbed 7.5 copy) to fill in my last hole of a 140 issue Detective Comics run.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

It would be nice to get new stuff I could enjoy, but as anyone my age has to hear day after day anymore, "You Are Not The Audience, The World Has Moved On And You (And Your Money) Are No Longer Valued."

And yet those words could also be used against the people who say that, the same people who support something that's "not for them.":lol:

[Sumac]

And yet those words could also be used against the people who say that, the same people who support something that's "not for them.":lol:
Left live and breath hypocrisy.
They just disguise their hatred and bigotry with "concerns about equality".

[Andrew NDB]

"I fought really hard to stay in the movie. They didn't want to include me in the film," Heard said Monday about Aquaman 2.

https://cosmicbook.news/amber-heard-released-dc-aquaman-2-contract?fbclid=IwAR0QvCW35P-7hluQsu-8-ynUECTGBhWmAXpd61kEx9I8WnjeQFohVlnQmbE

[Sumac]

She threatened to **** someone's bed, if she was removed from the move?

[Andrew NDB]

The stupid thing here is that I'm assuming the writers had an arc for Mera. And they should, because Mera and their child is a huge part of things in the Aquaman universe in the comics and even what the first movie set up. Yet here we are. Now we're probably going to get a bunch of editors editing out or extremely down the character because of the actress playing Mera's personal life and pooping and whatever.

This is horrible. Maybe they couldn't recast in time to reshoot but the casualty will be the movie for sure.

[ZariusTwo]

Yeah, I have no interest in seeing this movie, and the mood of the public in general is if Amber is even a millisecond or two in this one, it won't make money. It's become far too politically weaponized. This and The Flash are both becoming toxic cinematic properties.

[superstaff]

You can Trace back their bad decisions to MOS and GL as they showed they had no commitment if something underperformed and were willing to change everything.

I don't think it was bad luck that caused the DCEU's demise.

It was WB's greed, arrogance, and ignorance.

[Coola Yagami]

.

This is horrible. Maybe they couldn't recast in time to reshoot but the casualty will be the movie for sure.

They should just find the ****in time. If they were able to cut her time to ten minutes, recast and refilm the ten minutes. Just do it in a way where you don't have too many people in the background.

[superstaff]

Yeah, I have no interest in seeing this movie, and the mood of the public in general is if Amber is even a millisecond or two in this one, it won't make money. It's become far too politically weaponized. This and The Flash are both becoming toxic cinematic properties.

I 100% agree with you. The discourse on most movies like this is super annoying, and overly politicized. Heard or not, I wasn't going to see this anyway since I didn't like the first Aquaman. I'm morbidly curious about Flash because that looks like it's going to be a huge train wreck. I won't pay to see it, though, of course. There's other ways to view such a movie...if you catch my drift.

[Leo656]

She was good as Mera, it's stupid that all this extracurricular sh*t should have any effect on a movie. Work and Home should be kept separate.

Like, I really dislike Johnny Depp and I think this entire situation with him and Heard is ridiculous; two coked-up drunk people had a few closed-door fights, big f*cking deal, if it was in Alabama and just two random meth-heads it wouldn't even make the newspaper. But like, I never thought Depp should have lost work over it. The showing up to set drunk, assaulting staff, the fact that he was getting paid $20 million per movie even though the box office gross kept falling on everything he was in... okay, THAT stuff, maybe, should be a factor into what roles he gets or how much he gets paid. But the personal stuff? That's personal. Leave it alone.

If we knew what ANY of these entertainers got up to at home behind closed doors, we'd be disgusted, so just let it be private and personal. People still gotta work. They deserve to be allowed to work, even if their personal lives are a mess.

It's so stupid. All of it.

[Coola Yagami]

She was good as Mera, it's stupid that all this extracurricular sh*t should have any effect on a movie. Work and Home should be kept separate.

Like, I really dislike Johnny Depp and I think this entire situation with him and Heard is ridiculous; two coked-up drunk people had a few closed-door fights, big f*cking deal, if it was in Alabama and just two random meth-heads it wouldn't even make the newspaper. But like, I never thought Depp should have lost work over it. The showing up to set drunk, assaulting staff, the fact that he was getting paid $20 million per movie even though the box office gross kept falling on everything he was in... okay, THAT stuff, maybe, should be a factor into what roles he gets or how much he gets paid. But the personal stuff? That's personal. Leave it alone.

If we knew what ANY of these entertainers got up to at home behind closed doors, we'd be disgusted, so just let it be private and personal. People still gotta work. They deserve to be allowed to work, even if their personal lives are a mess.

It's so stupid. All of it.

On one side, I agree. Whatever they do off camera isn't their business. I' mostly going by the 'fair is fair' angle. If they want Aquaman 2 to be pretty much the Mera movie, go for it. Just bring back Depp in all the projects he was dropped by.

My main thing is, if they're drop a guy just over accusations without even looking it, then do the same for the bitch that's doing pretty much the same thing.

[Andrew NDB]

Yeah. Don't deviate from whatever the plan was with Mera in Aquaman 2. Period. That is the most important thing. After that? They want to recast her in Aquaman 3? That's fine.

[Coola Yagami]

Yeah. Don't deviate from whatever the plan was with Mera in Aquaman 2. Period. That is the most important thing. After that? They want to recast her in Aquaman 3? That's fine.

Yeah but since Johnny isn't most likely gonna get his jobs back... Remove Amber entirely from Aquaman 2.

[Leo656]

The whole relationship dynamic was one of the things I was most intrigued by and looking forward to seeing play out in future movies. Because it's some of the most interesting material regarding the Aquaman character.

It's stupid that an entire movie series can be tanked, just because a bunch of fangirls who wanna f*ck Depp write an online petition bullying WB into making Heard lose her job.

Women crack me up with that sh*t, too. "Believe all women, always... Unless we wanna f*ck the guy being accused, then the woman is obviously a lying whore even though we weren't in the room or anything." :lol: Same sh*t going on with Depp's buddy Manson, too. Lots and lots of women all like "I don't care if he DID torture those women, he didn't do that to ME so I still want his nut butter inside me!" :lol::roll:

Nobody has any standards of decency anymore. They just pick sides and plant flags based on personal biases. Gross.

[Leo656]

Yeah but since Johnny isn't most likely gonna get his jobs back... Remove Amber entirely from Aquaman 2.

He might if he dropped his ridiculous asking price. People leave out the fact that NOTHING he's been in has made money for years and that even the Pirates movies were slipping, well before any accusations.

He's not a draw. He had an audience of thirsty housewives and their daughters but now that he's a bloated old drunk a lot of people moved on. He's no longer guaranteed to bring in big money, yet he only ever asks for a bigger paycheck.

The accusations may have been the last straw but he was already wearing out his welcome. If he was willing to humble himself, things might turn around.

And no, nobody should lose their job over hearsay. Not him, not her. That stuff NEEDS to stop immediately and two wrongs don't make a right.

[superstaff]

He might if he dropped his ridiculous asking price. People leave out the fact that NOTHING he's been in has made money for years and that even the Pirates movies were slipping, well before any accusations.

Yeah. I feel like a lot of the Depp supporters have forgotten his last slate of movies before this drama began.

Mortdecai, Transcendence (one of the worst movies I ever saw), Yoga Hosers, Sherlock Gnomes... Pirates and Fantastic Beasts were the last prominent things he did.

And no, nobody should lose their job over hearsay. Not him, not her. That stuff NEEDS to stop immediately and two wrongs don't make a right.

I'm of the same mind on this. This is their personal drama, and none of the general public's concern. Not sure why people are foaming at the mouth trying to defend either of them as if they're friends or even lovers of these people. Maybe it's because I've never been obsessed with boy bands or celebrities or whatever, so I...can't relate to people feeling so super 'close' to these unreachable people. But I always care more about the characters, and the way they're written rather than who plays them. Even then I can distinguish fiction from reality. Somehow. :ohwell:

[ZariusTwo]

Heard has lost the case

https://news.sky.com/story/johnny-depp-wins-us-libel-lawsuit-against-former-wife-amber-heard-12609397

[Andrew NDB]

She's been cut entirely from the movie, maybe?

https://fanfest.com/warner-bros-has-now-deleted-amber-heard-from-aquaman-2/?fbclid=IwAR1ejgUUCodeP3LlTr2SSUOAFXMfHMKrgWj62F7a PPBBF_6EL0VsneV-ljY

[Sumac]

For once Disney canceled the right person?
If its true, that is.

[Andrew NDB]

For once Disney canceled the right person?
If its true, that is.

Well, the only casualty will be the movie itself. It's not like WB will ask for the money back from her.

It IS highly unlikely she would ever, ever be considered for any kind of role in any non-indie level movie.

[ZariusTwo]

There have been new test screenings this week, this cut was 2 hours 15 minutes, but is said to have been received less well than the April screening

Key details

"Few audience feedback"

"Liked: Momoa, Patrick Wilson, the buddy comedy act, action set pieces."

"Disliked: Amber Heard, screenplay, Amber Heard, the largely campy and cheesy humor, and finally, Amber Heard."

[How were the reactions?] "Few claps, but most audiences were disappointed with it. Average feedback/reaction was mediocre."

"There were few claps when the movie ended, but majority of the folks who attended apparently were disappointed by the version that was screened yesterday. And on the questionnaire the average response was 'Mediocre'."

Claimed that there will be another test screening on Wednesday, June 22

https://www.reddit.com/r/DCEUleaks/comments/v8fatw/aquaman_and_the_lost_kingdom_june_test_screening/

[superstaff]

There have been new test screenings this week, this cut was 2 hours 15 minutes, but is said to have been received less well than the April screening

Key details

"Few audience feedback"

"Liked: Momoa, Patrick Wilson, the buddy comedy act, action set pieces."

"Disliked: Amber Heard, screenplay, Amber Heard, the largely campy and cheesy humor, and finally, Amber Heard."

[How were the reactions?] "Few claps, but most audiences were disappointed with it. Average feedback/reaction was mediocre."

"There were few claps when the movie ended, but majority of the folks who attended apparently were disappointed by the version that was screened yesterday. And on the questionnaire the average response was 'Mediocre'."

Claimed that there will be another test screening on Wednesday, June 22

https://www.reddit.com/r/DCEUleaks/comments/v8fatw/aquaman_and_the_lost_kingdom_june_test_screening/

:o I'm shocked. Truly shocked!

I guess I have no room to comment since I didn't even like the first Aquaman. But I will say, Heard's Mera was likely a huge part of the sequel, and cutting her out is going to make the movie choppy and awkward, whether you like her or her character, or not. I imagine a huge chunk of the movie got lost in the shuffle, as well as an equally huge part of the emotional component (aka Arthur and Mera's relationship).

[Andrew NDB]

:o I'm shocked. Truly shocked!

I guess I have no room to comment since I didn't even like the first Aquaman. But I will say, Heard's Mera was likely a huge part of the sequel, and cutting her out is going to make the movie choppy and awkward, whether you like her or her character, or not. I imagine a huge chunk of the movie got lost in the shuffle, as well as an equally huge part of the emotional component (aka Arthur and Mera's relationship).

And lessening her part in 2 retroactively makes her less meaningful in 1. Why waste so much time on her arc with Aquaman and so on.

[ZariusTwo]

Michael Keaton appears twice in the latest cut of the film

https://twitter.com/undercovercine/status/1535780010736267264?s=21&t=6oCPMBRE92IM6e0DHBD8YQ

[superstaff]

Michael Keaton appears twice in the latest cut of the film

https://twitter.com/undercovercine/status/1535780010736267264?s=21&t=6oCPMBRE92IM6e0DHBD8YQ

:ohwell:

I guess this confirms that they want 70 year old Michael Keaton to be the DC version of Nick Fury...

[mrmaczaps]

If the movie is done, cutting it up to remove Amber is dumb. She got paid, she is in it, dislike her all you want, but criticism of the movie should be about the movie itself... 90% of hollyweird are creepy perverted kid diddling high brow a$$holes that couldn't care less about the average viewer as long as they get paid.... all thats important to me is that they tell a great movie about the guy who talks to fish. :tlol:

[Leo656]

Yeah, supposedly the most recent test screenings didn't go great, but the feedback was very schizophrenic. On one hand, every bit with Amber in it supposedly got universally bad feedback (shocking), BUT, the biggest complaints were supposedly that the movie itself was choppy and disjointed as a whole... which is because almost all of her stuff was already cut, leaving the final product a bit of a mess.

I imagine WB will take this feedback at face value and just remove Amber's scenes altogether, and then wonder out loud why the reviews will say it's a hack-job when it finally comes out. "But... we did what Facebook said, we cut Amber Heard entirely! Why are they saying the movie is bad? What's 'cohesiveness'? Is that, like... a fancy college word for 'explosions'? We put those in, right? Can stuff explode underwater? Well it does now!"

Frankly, I care more about the Big Picture than about Heard and Depp's pissing fight. All I've ever seen her as was Mera, and she did good with it. It's stupid to wreck the movie (and subsequently, the series) over some He Said/She Said crash TV nonsense. The whole plot with Mera and their baby and her subsequent rage madness... all that was the only time Aquaman was ever interesting, in the comics, and I was really hopeful that we'd get to see it play out in the movies. It seemed on track for that, and now... feh.

I don't think either one of them needed to lose work over this whole bit of nonsense. I was fine with studios choosing not to keep Depp around on account of the box office not paying off his price tag anymore, that's just sensible business if his roles weren't returning on investment, but that's a whole other thing entirely. He wasn't getting chopped out of movies he'd already done, for one thing. All his stuff still got released and people ignored it because if he's not a pirate nobody's interested, but still, he wasn't chopped out of stuff he'd already done. "City of Lies" didn't start all over with Skeet Ulrich as a replacement, or anything, for example.

Whole thing is dumb. She's got One Role anyone's seen her in, and she's good at that one thing, let her go to work. I liked the first Aquaman movie a lot more than I'd expected, too, and actually wanted to see where the sequels might go. Sounds like they're fine with screwing the whole thing up over a hashtag, though... again. :roll:

Never change, WB. And by that, I mean Change Immediately. You suck.

[superstaff]

I imagine WB will take this feedback at face value and just remove Amber's scenes altogether, and then wonder out loud why the reviews will say it's a hack-job when it finally comes out. "But... we did what Facebook said, we cut Amber Heard entirely! Why are they saying the movie is bad? What's 'cohesiveness'? Is that, like... a fancy college word for 'explosions'? We put those in, right? Can stuff explode underwater? Well it does now!"

This will 100% happen. Word for word too.

Frankly, I care more about the Big Picture than about Heard and Depp's pissing fight. All I've ever seen her as was Mera, and she did good with it. It's stupid to wreck the movie (and subsequently, the series) over some He Said/She Said crash TV nonsense. The whole plot with Mera and their baby and her subsequent rage madness... all that was the only time Aquaman was ever interesting, in the comics, and I was really hopeful that we'd get to see it play out in the movies. It seemed on track for that, and now... feh.

If I was the director of this movie, I'd fight tooth and nail for my movie to be as in-tact as possible. What's happened to the creatives? Oh, right, many of them are just 'guns for hire' now. I remember the story of Guillermo del Toro fighting the studio because they wanted his Hellboy to be played by Vin Diesel, and be a Hulk rip-off (Vin Diesel 'turning into' Hellboy when he got angry). Nowadays, it seems most directors just roll over, and let the studio hack job their stuff. The studios have no respect for the art or the artist either.

Never change, WB. And by that, I mean Change Immediately. You suck.

WB Executive: Don't worry, Leo! We won't! Ha ha! We'll probably f*ck up Flash even worse than this because we're scared sh*tless we'll lose our Christmas bonuses, so we'll CG Grant Gustin into Ezra Miller's body, and add in 200% more Michael Keaton like the fans want! You'll love it! ...HA HA!

(The WB executive sounded a lot like...Mickey Mouse too.)

[Andrew NDB]

I saw her in "3 Days to Kill." That movie was AWESOME.

yswZKfnmf7c

She was fine in The Stand. Apparently she was also in The Rum Diary and Zombieland but I don't remember her in either one. Haven't seen her in anything else.

[mrmaczaps]

I saw her in "3 Days to Kill." That movie was AWESOME.

yswZKfnmf7c

She was fine in The Stand. Apparently she was also in The Rum Diary and Zombieland but I don't remember her in either one. Haven't seen her in anything else.

That movie has Marvel's green arrow jr in it too... huh. Never heard of it.

[Andrew NDB]

That movie has Marvel's green arrow jr in it too... huh. Never heard of it.

It's super good. Very slick script and very memorable. And I don't throw that around lightly.

[Coola Yagami]

I woulda just recast her and problem solved.

[superstaff]

I woulda just recast her and problem solved.

They can't recast this late in the game. It'd be too expensive (reshoots including whole scenes with the same actors involved, have to pay another actress for the same job, etc), and would delay their movie slate.

[Coola Yagami]

They can't recast this late in the game. It'd be too expensive (reshoots including whole scenes with the same actors involved, have to pay another actress for the same job, etc), and would delay their movie slate.

If I had to choose between that or shutting it all down, I'll choose to recast.

I mean this is on them for playing the 'cancel culture virtue signal' game. People knew Amber was **** way before the trial. I woulda dropped her the moment this **** came up, which was most likely while she was still filming her scenes.

[superstaff]

If I had to choose between that or shutting it all down, I'll choose to recast.


It's cheaper for them to just edit her out, even if it makes the movie nonsensical. It's been done before. And most people might not even care, and will still pay to see it multiple times. Who knows.

[Leo656]

Why should anyone lose paying work because they had a closed-door fight with their spouse? None of that junk is any of our concern and should have no effect on business.

It's a dangerous game if we're gonna start playing "I only go see movies starring Good and Decent People," which is what it seems like people selectively want to do. It amazes me that sometimes people like to act shocked when they find out, Shocker, those rich pretty people who sprinkle cocaine on their breakfast cereal are actually awful train wrecks in Real Life, and then they're like "That's it, I can't in good conscience go see a movie with that person in it!" :roll: F*cking spare me. It's a business based entirely on make-believe and every single one of these people is a goddamn degenerate.

And nobody "cancelled" Johnny Depp over accusations, let's stop pushing that retarded lie. He had several movies come out over the last few years, just nothing anyone cares about. I'm sure the brouhaha with Heard didn't help anything, but both the Pirates and Fantastic Beasts franchises were looking to move away from him when his movies stopped bringing in huge dividends but he kept his huge price tag. If anything, the rumors and scandal were maybe the last little nudge to confirm that they'd be going in another (cheaper) direction, but they were already leaning towards that before that happened. Everything would still be exactly the same as it is; nobody who thought the Fantastic Beasts sequel sucked said, "But Johnny Depp could've saved it." Not one person thinks that. If anything, it'd be one more clunker he has his name stuck on.

He's fine, he's been fine and will continue to be fine. Yet Amber gets completely erased from a movie and never gets to work again. Over closed door Jerry Springer sh*t that isn't anybody's business in the first place. "Fair".

I really wish people would stop concerning themselves with the personal lives of minstrels, and simply compartmentalized Art from The Artist the way they like to pretend they do. As I've said, I care more about the movies they make than I do any of these assholes as people. So when the movies get screwed up on account of petty nonsense (and in turn, the common rabble's morbid fascination with said petty nonsense), I find it supremely aggravating.

Ah well. One more DC movie to skip. I guess that's okay, I can just ignore the entire franchise now altogether! :lol: It was admittedly kinda weird being like, "I don't really care about any of it... but I guess Aquaman 2 might be good." Now there's no outlier! "It all looks like sh*t!" That's kinda awesome, I guess. :lol:

[superstaff]

It's a dangerous game if we're gonna start playing "I only go see movies starring Good and Decent People," which is what it seems like people selectively want to do. It amazes me that sometimes people like to act shocked when they find out, Shocker, those rich pretty people who sprinkle cocaine on their breakfast cereal are actually awful train wrecks in Real Life, and then they're like "That's it, I can't in good conscience go see a movie with that person in it!" :roll: F*cking spare me. It's a business based entirely on make-believe and every single one of these people is a goddamn degenerate.

Although really blunt, mrmaczaps is probably right when he said '90% of hollyweird are creepy perverted kid diddling high brow a$$holes that couldn't care less about the average viewer as long as they get paid'. I remember when people boycotted Chick Fil A due to homophobia circa 2012 or so, and this one girl I knew online declared she'd never eat there again, and she'd exclusively go to Popeyes. I posited that, for all she knew, the owners of Popeyes could be sacrificing kittens in a satanic ritual every night. She blew her top at me over it, saying that it just wasn't possible. Popeyes were 'good guys' compared to CFA...for some reason. The point I'm trying to make is that you never know what goes on behind closed doors, especially when it comes to these celebrities.

Everything would still be exactly the same as it is; nobody who thought the Fantastic Beasts sequel sucked said, "But Johnny Depp could've saved it." Not one person thinks that. If anything, it'd be one more clunker he has his name stuck on.

Actually, after the trial, I've been seeing that ridiculous rhetoric lately. "I bet WB regrets not keeping John-John on! Because they fired him, the Fantastic Beasts movie flopped!" :roll: Come on, people.

I really wish people would stop concerning themselves with the personal lives of minstrels, and simply compartmentalized Art from The Artist the way they like to pretend they do. As I've said, I care more about the movies they make than I do any of these assholes as people. So when the movies get screwed up on account of petty nonsense (and in turn, the common rabble's morbid fascination with said petty nonsense), I find it supremely aggravating.

Sadly, this is how it is going to be moving forward. Same thing happened with Kevin Spacey, and the like. Welcome to Hollywood in 20... Well, not '22 since this has been going on long before now. Ugh.

Ah well. One more DC movie to skip. I guess that's okay, I can just ignore the entire franchise now altogether! :lol: It was admittedly kinda weird being like, "I don't really care about any of it... but I guess Aquaman 2 might be good." Now there's no outlier! "It all looks like sh*t!" That's kinda awesome, I guess. :lol:

I wasn't going to see this anyhow, but dang. It just sucks that studios are bending over backwards for left or right wing keyboard warriors. Like I said, this has been a thing long before this situation with Heard and Depp, though this one's pretty bad in particular, if you ask me.

[AquaParade]

I agree that movies should be movies, because people can simply vote with their dollar, but I don't mind if Amber loses the work. She's obviously a complete sociopath. And while many actors are probably sociopaths, this one has been backed by crooked media to a larger extent.

All of the sudden, all these cancel-hungry outlets are talking about how unfair social media is being to Amber. It's just weird.
They have no issue canceling anyone else, but when there's an actual verdict from an appointed jury, it's "guys, maybe this cancel culture thing has gone too far." Maybe because she's a woman, maybe because #metoo has too much to lose, or maybe it's because the media won't eat crow.

Sure, they are right, but it's for the wrong reasons.

Not really concerned for Depp's happiness. The dude has been blessed ten times over. The media trying to control the narrative is the enemy, and Amber is their favorite instrument. It's gross and it needs to die.

Go ahead and cancel her. She won't be missed and it will be a lesson to the twitter mob and all the vile outlets that back her.

[Andrew NDB]

And nobody "cancelled" Johnny Depp over accusations, let's stop pushing that retarded lie.

It is neither retarded or a lie. We're talking about the next Pirates movie and Fantastic Beasts 3 and onward, HUGE movies that either one any up and coming actor or actress would die to be a part of. He was going to make 22.5 million from the next Pirates movie and DID make 16 million from Fantastic Beasts 3, which he did not film. But you also have to remember, Fantastic Beasts is supposed to go on for more movies. So it isn't just "Johnny Depp got paid for it, he wasn't cancelled!", it's all of the future movies in the franchise he's missing out on because it's not like they'll un-Mikkelson Grindelwald now. And there's also the radioactivity of him now. Even being vindicated, studios know that he is going to be a controversial choice for any role because there will be a large portion of the populace that are Team Heard.

[superstaff]

All of the sudden, all these cancel-hungry outlets are talking about how unfair social media is being to Amber. It's just weird.

A lot of people are saying social media's being unfair to Depp too. Both 'sides' love their mascots, after all, they're going to try to defend their pet celebrity while slandering the other. Meanwhile, Depp and Heard are probably currently somewhere snorting cocaine together for all we know. :lol: I don't think these celebrities actually care about any of this drama. They got their paychecks, and got their publicity from the trial. Next comes the books they'll have some shmuck ghost write for them, followed by a 'career revival' in a few years. Meanwhile, the Depp and Heard stans will continue to bicker about them for years to come, acting as if they're married to them, and have a personal stake in their lives. Yikes.

It is neither retarded or a lie. We're talking about the next Pirates movie and Fantastic Beasts 3 and onward, HUGE movies that either one any up and coming actor or actress would die to be a part of.

Yeah. Any up and coming actor, sure. Depp doesn't need any of these franchises, he has enough wealth accumulated that he can live comfortably for the rest of his life without ever acting again.

Also, I think both Pirates and FB were going down the tubes anyhow, with or without Depp. The Pirates movies from 3 onward were losing a lot of public favor, same with FB2.

[Leo656]

Yeah, the last few Pirates movies were trending downward financially even before any rumors and scandalous innuendo. They probably made too many of them too fast and in turn burned people out on them. But regardless, Disney was already talking about an exit strategy to get costs down and one of those variables was Depp's outrageous salary. You're only worth $20+ million if the returns pay dividends. But the guy would rather keep dodging the IRS and shooting dead friends out of cannons that try and negotiate a more reasonable level of income, one which might in turn see him get more of those "high profile" gigs.

By that point there simply weren't gonna be any more Pirates movies rolling off the assembly line. Not when the receipts were trending down and the main star refused to accept a cut in pay. They were always going to need to either take a long break or reboot with a cheaper cast.

We'll see how the next one does with a "now vindicated" Depp making his "triumphant" return to a role that got boring and played out by the second movie. I actually predict it will do pretty well considering it's been years since the last one and whatever fatigue audiences were feeling that kept them from seeing the last two has probably dissipated. But regardless, there was no chance they were doing any more Pirates movies over the last few years, at least not at the rapid-fire pace Andrew seems to be implying. They might have at best done, like, one. But even that is no guarantee. They needed to sit on the shelf for a while, people were sick of it all. When everyone unanimously said they'd never watch any reboot, or any Depp-less Pirates movie, they decided to just shelve the franchise outright until the whole thing blew over. Which is smart.

I know Depp said on the stand that he'd never work with Disney again, but c'mon. :lol: NOTHING else he's done in almost 20 years has drawn a crowd, and he has very expensive drug and alcohol habits to maintain. I'm SO sure he's done playing a pirate, when that's the one and only role anyone pays to see him in. Another negotiating tactic. Picking his spots. He sees that not even the MCU is guaranteed to do huge numbers with every swing, anymore, and that Star Wars is wrecked as far as movies go, and so Disney is gonna need another proven franchise soon enough, at which point they'll come crawling back to him. With a big raise, most likely. Joy.

As far as Heard being a "sociopath", all well and fair but why on Earth should that matter in a cesspool such as Hollywood? Granted, people like Spacey and Singer are a different breed and the fact that by all accounts they are predators means they should probably be censured to some degree. Like, people shouldn't be paying Bryan Singer $50 million of whatever to direct a movie in which he's going to turn around and use the set as his personal candyland to pick up young boys. That, I'd say, is an example of a person who deserves to be kicked out of Hollywood, sure.

But someone like Heard? Eh, nah. There's no law against being an asshole, or even a lying narcissist. Those are personality flaws, but it's not like she's a violent criminal or a sex offender. She's a vindictive gold-digging ex, like everyone with a vagina. This is news? Jesus, go ahead and "cancel" the entire female species, then. :lol: "This woman married a rich guy for his money, treated him shabbily, exaggerated claims of mistreatment and then cheated on him! How DARE she... behave in accordance with how 99% of women behave! The absolute NERVE!" :roll: :lol:

Nah, not a good reason to sh*tcan her from the cesspool. I mean, maybe she's a bad actress, too, I've only seen her in two things (Aquaman and Justice League... maybe that's technically "three things") so I really can't say. If she's a bad actress, that should count for more than anything with regard to this kinda thing. I mean, it doesn't, but since we're always talking about society being more of a meritocracy, surely whether or not a person has the skills to perform their job means more than any personal problems a person has.

But nobody's saying they want her fired because she's a bad actress. They want her fired because she had a bad break-up with her ex who they like better (based on his TV persona). That's... well, sorry, that's nonsense. Things shouldn't work like that, ideally.

[superstaff]

As far as Heard being a "sociopath", all well and fair but why on Earth should that matter in a cesspool such as Hollywood? Granted, people like Spacey and Singer are a different breed and the fact that by all accounts they are predators means they should probably be censured to some degree. Like, people shouldn't be paying Bryan Singer $50 million of whatever to direct a movie in which he's going to turn around and use the set as his personal candyland to pick up young boys. That, I'd say, is an example of a person who deserves to be kicked out of Hollywood, sure.


I think what bothered me about the Spacey/Singer situations was the way the media, and everyone else at the time really, tried to just erase them, and their movies from existence. There was a lot of censorship and shaming going on back then aimed at anyone who dared bring up their names in a public space online. They're scum, I'm sure. Most celebrities are probably scum of some kind. I still don't think the art they produced should be trashed even temporarily. Then again, I am a stickler who hates things being censored and taken away. History's repeating itself now with WB removing all traces of Heard from Aquaman 2. I'd rather see movies the way they're intended to be released, and not a hacked down mess, just because the execs are afraid they'll miss out on Christmas bonuses this year.

[Leo656]

Yeah.

And I mean, what kills me about the "(______) Deserves to be Cancelled" narrative is that it's SO selective. Jimmy Page kidnapped a 13-year old girl to be his live-in sex slave, and yet "Stairway to Heaven" gets played on the radio every single day and nobody ever brings up Lori Maddox except to use as an example in cases such as this about how Rich People Get Away With Sh*t. That whole thing wasn't even a secret AS it was happening, everyone just shrugged. They STILL just shrug, if you mention it. "Well... I mean, he IS a great guitar player, though..."

I mean, I love Led Zeppelin and everything, but c'mon. And lets not forget all the Hollywood celebrities who continue to outspokenly champion Roman Polanski. If sh*t like THAT, society collectively ignores, and we let people continue to be rich and famous and keep doing the thing that made them rich and famous... should we REALLY be saying people like Amber Heard are "worse"? That's insane.

We as a society will defend literal sex offenders if we're entertained by them. But someone we find to have an irritating personality, we deem "unworthy" and send them to the fire pits never to be seen or heard from again. C'mon, what sense does that even make? That's the sh*t that kills me.

[AquaParade]

A lot of people are saying social media's being unfair to Depp too. Both 'sides' love their mascots, after all, they're going to try to defend their pet celebrity while slandering the other. Meanwhile, Depp and Heard are probably currently somewhere snorting cocaine together for all we know. :lol: I don't think these celebrities actually care about any of this drama. They got their paychecks, and got their publicity from the trial. Next comes the books they'll have some shmuck ghost write for them, followed by a 'career revival' in a few years. Meanwhile, the Depp and Heard stans will continue to bicker about them for years to come, acting as if they're married to them, and have a personal stake in their lives. Yikes.



No one is saying that. Social media has utterly destroyed Amber in every way and backed Johnny to a much larger extent. Not even a contest.

What people are pointing out is that the media is being unfair to Depp. They are pointing out outlets that were happy to slander Depp six years ago, but have nothing to say, now that a bunch of Amber's "evidence" has been proven to be manufactured and there is an actual real-life verdict.

I agree with the rest for the most part. Except a lot of people seem to imply that anyone discussing this is simply a "celebrity-stan" or something, which is pretty lame, if so. Like, you aren't allowed to have a stance, without being a "stan" or celebrity-obsessed. All that does is point out that a lot of people are ignorant to wider implications of this trial. It's also a huge indicator that the person speaking probably didn't watch the trial....yet feel a need to have an opinion on it.

My favorite is the people who scoff at the notion of watching the trial, because they have "better things to do", which ends up being watching 12 hours of Stranger Things, Squid Game, or whatever the current retarded Netflix show is. Unless you are spending all your time helping grandmas cross the street, tending to starving children, and cleaning up crap on the side of the road, I don't want to hear anyone scoff at the notion of spending time watching a trial. That goes double for anyone spending any time jerking off to furries and watching Netflix.

I also agree with Andrew that Depp did, in fact, lose out on future movies when the accusations came out. Sure, he was going downhill, but it's still a fact of the matter.

[Andrew NDB]

No one is saying that. Social media has utterly destroyed Amber in every way and backed Johnny to a much larger extent. Not even a contest.

Bullsh**. And it's almost become politicized. Everybody posting on my FB feed in previous months about stuff like, "Found another nazi on Twitter today!" and so on, these are the ones posting in Heard's defense. I see it all day.

[AquaParade]

Bullsh**. And it's almost become politicized. Everybody posting on my FB feed in previous months about stuff like, "Found another nazi on Twitter today!" and so on, these are the ones posting in Heard's defense. I see it all day.

No, it's not ******** at all. Depp has completely won social media, despite what your facebook feed looks like.

You can find examples of anything on social media. By and large, the consensus on social media is that Depp = good, Amber = bad. Even to the extent that Amber's team is now banking on the notion of "social media caused me to lose!". I mean, it's not true, but we can see why she is saying that. She's being absolutely destroyed on social media.

You have to look for the pockets of Heard supporters.

Where does most internet discussion take place? Twitter.
Go on twitter, search "Amber Heard" and tell me what you see. You will need to actively search - hard - for a positive Amber Heard hashtag. I'm not a fan of twitter, but this is the epicenter of social media.

[Leo656]

I also agree with Andrew that Depp did, in fact, lose out on future movies when the accusations came out. Sure, he was going downhill, but it's still a fact of the matter.

A whole whopping Two Of 'Em. A "potential" Pirates sequel that didn't get made, and the third Fantastic Beasts movie (since he apparently still got paid for the second one). The latter film only made $400 million on a $200 million budget, apparently, so if he HAD been in that one and it drew the same numbers, odds are slim he'd be asked back for the fourth anyway.

So he "lost out" on two movies at most, one of which (the Pirates sequel) was not likely to have been made during the interim years, anyway. So in truth, he lost out on a grand total of ONE (1) movie role. In a series nobody cared about to begin with.

I'm sure he could've bought a lot of wine and drugs with that $20 million, and thus he was cranky about it, but somehow, I don't think it was as tragic and heartbreaking as some people are insisting. Outside of that One Job, he kept making (bad) movies (which nobody cared about) the entire time. So, Business As Usual for him, by and large.

It's like saying he "lost out" on the chance to be The Invisible Man in that whole Universal "Dark Universe" fiasco. Despite the fact that they scrapped the entire thing for reasons that had nothing specifically to do with him or Angelina Jolie; the only relation was that Universal saw the awful returns on The Mummy and decided that Depp and Jolie would break the bank if they pursued the idea any further and actually made the movies they were supposed to make with them. But aside from that, the series wasn't gonna realistically happen anyway, so we can't say he "lost out" on that role, either. It was nothing more than a hypothetical.

People act like this whole scandal somehow irreparably damaged his career when that simply isn't true. He's been working steadily and only authentically "lost" One Gig. It's not his or my fault that only his Pirates movies ever drew a crowd in his entire career, that's all on society. "Blow" is inarguably his best movie and that thing was a financial disaster. People act like he's always been some kind of national treasure with a long list of hit movies and that Heard f*cked that all up for him; no, that's not the least bit accurate. He was a well-liked pretty boy actor who'd only ever done well-meaning flops until he found his one specific niche playing goofballs. It's not like he's "bad" (although most of his movies are, but that's not entirely his fault) but let's not pretend he's Tom Hanks or something. Before "Pirates", he was "That handsome guy who's in all the bad movies... OH, and Edward Scissorhands, that one was kind of okay." He was more famous for who he was dating than whatever movies he'd been in. He was the answer to a Trivia question thanks to his "Nightmare on Elm Street" gig. But that's about it.

Good for him for finding a late-game resurgence by leaning into being a goof. Whatever pays the bills. But the guy had nothing to stand on before "Pirates". So it kinda baffles me when people talk him up like he's some kind of megastar. He's only ever done two things anyone cares about, and in between Scissorhands and Pirates it was a decade of nothing. And after Pirates, it was STILL Nothing. That's all anyone wants to see him do, and that isn't just me saying that, just go look at his box office receipts.

So I mean, if people don't even wanna pay to see his movies... it frankly baffles me why people purport to care SO much about the guy, his career, and his personal life. It's like saying ________ is your favorite band but you don't even buy their records or go see them on tour. "I just really, really like em!"

Well geez, must not like 'em THAT much. Nah'mean?

[Andrew NDB]

A whole whopping Two Of 'Em. A "potential" Pirates sequel that didn't get made, and the third Fantastic Beasts movie (since he apparently still got paid for the second one). The latter film only made $400 million on a $200 million budget

Who is to say that Depp being absent from Beasts 3 didn't impact it? Feelings about the Depp/Heard thing were at fever pitch on a cultural level when it came out, and Depp basically being asked to leave was a big story.

And "a whole whopping two of 'em." That we know of, and only so far. Scripts and movies are being conceptualized everyday. Who's to say there's not a bunch of Transcendence-level movies coming down the way with people involved that would've gone after Depp... but now wouldn't? Because why would they, now? And this particular case aside, the "Depp beats Amber Heard" has been going around since 2017. That's how long he's been radioactive, as a result of Heard saying stuff to the press. When J.K Rowling had Depp's back and kept him in Beasts 3 as filming was about to begin (before studio stepped in, of course), that was considered a super controversial thing and got a lot of backlash.

So I mean, if people don't even wanna pay to see his movies... it frankly baffles me why people purport to care SO much about the guy, his career, and his personal life. It's like saying ________ is your favorite band but you don't even buy their records or go see them on tour. "I just really, really like em!"

"I don't care about Johnny Depp personally" and "Johnny Depp has gotten screwed here." Both of these things can be possible at once.

[Coola Yagami]

Honestly, it's a matter of both are assholes, both should be punished. Either drop both or hire both. But if Depp got shut out of his roles and dropped by Disney then the least they can do is drop Amber from Aquaman.

This is like two people being caught committing a crime but only one gets arrested and serves actual time while the other gets a pat on the back and a 'just don't do it again ok?'

Hire both or cancel both.

[AquaParade]

It's not about feeling bad for Depp. It's not about whether he can still buy expensive wine. I mean, for some crazies, I'm sure it is very much about that, but there are more important implications. Namely the "splash" effect this has on the culture and the level of trust we give to the media. This is a huge, glowing neon sign that proves we can't just believe accusations right off the bat, to the point of condemning the accused.

I can see how this would seem really annoying to people who think everyone invested is just cheering for their favorite celebrity. It's not.

But quite honestly, the more you become invested in any scenario like this, the more you want to see a proven rat get what's coming to them. It's just human nature. You can't listen to someone spew lies in court for hours on end and not want to see them fail. So sure, there is some schadenfreude, but it's bigger than that.

[Leo656]

The Depp verdict changes NOTHING for 99% of abuse victims of either gender. This is such a ridiculous thing to even suggest. All it does is prove that if you can hire a good enough lawyer, you can nudge things in your favor. Most people are not wealthy enough to have such a luxury.

Let some broke no-name guy in Alabama walk into court with those exact same text messages and videos as evidence, and watch any judge or jury who sees them say "Cool story, bro, still abusive behavior. 'She yelled at you first' doesn't cut it." I've known people who spent time in Actual Jail for less inciteful behavior than what Dep displayed on those videos. And yes, they did try "She yelled at me/hit me first!" as their defense; turns out, that doesn't actually matter unless you're a rich, pretty person!

So yeah, this changes nothing at all in the grand scheme of things. If you're a poor person, the rule of "You don't ever hit or yell at a woman, even if she hits or yells at you first" still reigns. Personally, I do think that rule deserves some revising, in the interest of "being fair" to all sides. But regardless of what I think, that isn't how things work. And it's not gonna change, either.

Domestic abuse can be incredibly hard to prove on either side, but "women are weaker" and so the system is designed to lean towards them as a means of protection. That's not something that can actually be changed without a whole ton of bloodletting and I don't think this one incident is going to be the thing that starts a whole wave.

[Leo656]

Honestly, it's a matter of both are assholes, both should be punished. Either drop both or hire both. But if Depp got shut out of his roles and dropped by Disney then the least they can do is drop Amber from Aquaman.

This is like two people being caught committing a crime but only one gets arrested and serves actual time while the other gets a pat on the back and a 'just don't do it again ok?'

Hire both or cancel both.

You're divorced. Would you want to lose your job because your ex started a bunch of nasty rumors about you? In turn, would you be okay with doing that to her?

OR, should peoples' often-"problematic" personal lives and their public/professional lives be kept wholly separate so long as The Former has no measurable impact on The Latter?

I hate to ever stick up for women. But every time someone comes up with some stretch of an excuse as to why Amber Heard should never be allowed to make another movie... it all sounds a lot like "Burn The Witch!", to me. Again, we're generally fine with actual pedos and sex offenders being allowed to make movies and we just choose not to watch them. But we want a woman to forever lose her means of support because she had a fight with her ex that got dragged out into the streets for all to see. I'm not sure Jenny Fromdabloc would even lose her Wal-Mart gig over something like that.

I mean, speaking anecdotally, I've only ever spent a single day in jail but I've been take into custody and charged with a whole lotta violent misdemeanors, stuff I had to go to court over. Never lost a job over it. I guess in theory if my bosses wanted to be assholes, they could've been. NJ is an "at will" state so you can be fired for literally no reason, and yet me being arrested and accused of various things wasn't enough to make them let me go. Because "Business is Business and Personal is Personal". The fact that I could show up consistently and do the job asked of me was more important than whatever nonsense happened off the clock. That is honestly how it SHOULD work. For everyone, everywhere.

It really does kinda feel like dogpiling her because "F*ck that gold-digging slut", not gonna lie. And she absolutely is a gold-digging slut, but holy hell, that only makes her about the 87th biggest scumbag in all of Hollywood, why does something as innocuous as all that even matter?

Two Wrongs don't actually make a right, except in the case of double negatives, and Depp never appreciably lost any work at all, definitely not his entire career. Only "hypothetical" work, which means nothing. So the whole "Cancel Amber" movement just feels like... well, misogyny. I hate to even use that stupid word but that's honestly what it feels like.

Bryan Singer molested a teenage boy in the 1990s and he still got to make three X-Men movies and a Superman after that. Let's not pretend we have standards of decency, or that egregious double standards don't exist.

[AquaParade]

The Depp verdict changes NOTHING for 99% of abuse victims of either gender. This is such a ridiculous thing to even suggest. All it does is prove that if you can hire a good enough lawyer, you can nudge things in your favor. Most people are not wealthy enough to have such a luxury.

Let some broke no-name guy in Alabama walk into court with those exact same text messages and videos as evidence, and watch any judge or jury who sees them say "Cool story, bro, still abusive behavior. 'She yelled at you first' doesn't cut it." I've known people who spent time in Actual Jail for less inciteful behavior than what Dep displayed on those videos. And yes, they did try "She yelled at me/hit me first!" as their defense; turns out, that doesn't actually matter unless you're a rich, pretty person!

So yeah, this changes nothing at all in the grand scheme of things. If you're a poor person, the rule of "You don't ever hit or yell at a woman, even if she hits or yells at you first" still reigns. Personally, I do think that rule deserves some revising, in the interest of "being fair" to all sides. But regardless of what I think, that isn't how things work. And it's not gonna change, either.

Domestic abuse can be incredibly hard to prove on either side, but "women are weaker" and so the system is designed to lean towards them as a means of protection. That's not something that can actually be changed without a whole ton of bloodletting and I don't think this one incident is going to be the thing that starts a whole wave.

It changes public perception to a degree. It tells people they shouldn't be so quick to trust the media, which is hugely important in this day and age, and it also tells people that both genders can be abused. These things do have ripple effects on society. Especially because we are now constantly relying on public perception & consensus as judge.

It's important for the cover to be blown on huge media outlets twisting the narrative to fit their agendas.

It's important for there to be some push back on the idea that we should "believe women" at any cost, without question.

[Coola Yagami]

You're divorced. Would you want to lose your job because your ex started a bunch of nasty rumors about you? In turn, would you be okay with doing that to her?



Of course not but if she did I'd want her to lose her job over it too if I had to lose mine over false accusations.

Either way, I wouldn't want her, or Amber to get off scott free.

You been through your fair share (and it sucks), I'm sure if your reputation was ruined to the point where you'd never ever get a job again ever, you'd want the same to happen to the misses if she was the cause of it.

Blah, just like a gringo to bring up a Mexican man's divorce. You Starbucks-slurping blondes.

[Leo656]

Of course not but if she did I'd want her to lose her job over it too if I had to lose mine over false accusations.

Either way, I wouldn't want her, or Amber to get off scott free.

You been through your fair share (and it sucks), I'm sure if your reputation was ruined to the point where you'd never ever get a job again ever, you'd want the same to happen to the misses if she was the cause of it.

Blah, just like a gringo to bring up a Mexican man's divorce. You Starbucks-slurping blondes.

Except Depp didn't provably lose any significant amount of work. Yet people still demand that Heard not only be scrubbed from the Aquaman movie, but all of Hollywood forever. "Because Fair".

He lost ONE job. In turn, she "deserves" to be nuked in retaliation? It's not like she f*cked a kid (as far as we know).

No, that's not "fairness". That's a bunch of men who still have baggage from past relationships cheering to see someone in Heard's position get "put in her place" so they in turn can feel some sort of vicarious "victory". They can't get even with "the dumb sluts" who did THEM dirty in the past, so they adopt stuff like this because it makes them feel better. Seeing ANY of "the dumb sluts" get taken down a peg is just as good as Actual Revenge.

Not trying to attack anyone personally, but it becomes pretty obvious when you pay close attention to What is being said and Who is doing the speaking. Because again, people are not calling for "fairness". They're shouting "Burn the Witch". There is nothing "fair" about any woman losing her entire career in payback for her ex losing one single piece of business. That's not even close to equitable.

[Coola Yagami]

Except Depp didn't provably lose any significant amount of work. Yet people still demand that Heard not only be scrubbed from the Aquaman movie, but all of Hollywood forever. "Because Fair".

He lost ONE job. In turn, she "deserves" to be nuked in retaliation? It's not like she f*cked a kid (as far as we know).

No, that's not "fairness". That's a bunch of men who still have baggage from past relationships cheering to see someone in Heard's position get "put in her place" so they in turn can feel some sort of vicarious "victory". They can't get even with "the dumb sluts" who did THEM dirty in the past, so they adopt stuff like this because it makes them feel better. Seeing ANY of "the dumb sluts" get taken down a peg is just as good as Actual Revenge.

Not trying to attack anyone personally, but it becomes pretty obvious when you pay close attention to What is being said and Who is doing the speaking. Because again, people are not calling for "fairness". They're shouting "Burn the Witch". There is nothing "fair" about any woman losing her entire career in payback for her ex losing one single piece of business. That's not even close to equitable.

That part might be true, (there's always angry misogynists waiting to dogpile a woman) luckily I never went through any of that. **** just went South is all. But isn't what people want of Amber pretty much what people wanted of Depp the moment the allegations came out? To be dropped from everything and never get work ever again? Even now after winning the trial it'll take a while because everyone knows that if you hire him the Amber Mob will now be coming after you.

It might not be fair-fair, but her losing one movie over him potentially losing everything is the equivalent of false rape accusation got the dude 10 years, it was revealed to be a hoax but the false accuser only gets 2 weeks of community service. Naw, if she was gonna send the guy away for 10 years, then she should be serving the 10 years. If Amber wanted to ruin Depp's career for good, now she has to reap what she sowed.

[Leo656]

But isn't what people want of Amber pretty much what people wanted of Depp the moment the allegations came out? To be dropped from everything and never get work ever again? Even now after winning the trial it'll take a while because everyone knows that if you hire him the Amber Mob will now be coming after you.

It might not be fair-fair, but her losing one movie over him potentially losing everything is the equivalent of false rape accusation got the dude 10 years, it was revealed to be a hoax but the false accuser only gets 2 weeks of community service. Naw, if she was gonna send the guy away for 10 years, then she should be serving the 10 years. If Amber wanted to ruin Depp's career for good, now she has to reap what she sowed.

I don't think so. I saw *some* people screaming about that, but they tend to be the same type of people who scream about J.K. Rowling being "transphobic", as in hysterical lunatics who take things too far and in turn nobody should ever listen to. Those aren't "real people".

Speaking for myself, the guy annoys me greatly because I think he's just about the most overrated actor of the last few decades, considering how much people fawn over the guy despite the fact that 99% of his entire catalog is absolute dreck. But no, he didn't deserve to lose his ability to go to work over He Said/She Said that happened behind closed doors. No rational person ever thought that. He's allowed to work, and I'm allowed to simply not waste my time on his movies, outside of the three or so I actually liked. His ability to go to work and feed himself affects my life 0%. No more or less than the Amazon driver or the guy at the fish food store being accused of similar things. Why should what happened off the clock have anything to do with Work Stuff?

And if she really wanted to "ruin Depp's career for good", she should have worked a lot harder at it than one Op-Ed where she never even mentioned his name. She pretty much dropped the issue and went away entirely after that for a while, at which point HE turned around and made this whole affair a public spectacle all on his own, because his feelings were hurt or some dumb thing. Nobody'd even still be talking about this if not for him... which is another reason he annoys me. 5+ years ago may as well be 50, anymore. None of this matters, it's ancient history and was never of any importance to begin with. Two drunk people I seen on the TV box had a slapfight. I can see the same sh*t if I drive through the sh*tty part of Jamesburg after 11pm.

It just baffles me why people want SO BAD to see him make even more bad movies, that they treat this whole thing like it's bigger than the OJ trial. They don't pay to see the bad movies he already makes! They NEVER have! How is this "vindication" gonna change that inconvenient truth? People ONLY care about him as Jack Sparrow, that's not gonna magically change all of a sudden after this crap. Not unless he starts actually reading the scripts he signs on for and not just taking any gig he can get for booze money.

People act like these accusations robbed a bright young star of a promising career. He'd be doing Just Swell, if not for that gold-digging harlot and her big mouth. :lol: Except to believe THAT bullsh*t, you have to willingly ignore, just, ALL of his non-Pirates career. Which is just flop after flop after flop after flop. "This movie's a piece of sh*t, BUT he's good IN it, so there's that." That's the guy's "legacy". She didn't "rob" him of or "ruin" sh*t. Let's just put that to bed already, it's exhausted.

[superstaff]

It just baffles me why people want SO BAD to see him make even more bad movies, that they treat this whole thing like it's bigger than the OJ trial.

Leo, clearly, they really want their Mortdecai 2. :lol:

I'm going to give it a year or two before these two publish their books based around their relationship/the trial, and another year after that when they both begin starring in movies again, starting with indie/Netflix crap first.

[Leo656]

Dude my wife sees every single thing he does without fail, and whenever I ask her what half of the movies are even about, she usually can't tell me. Or she'll admit, "Well... it's kinda stupid. But I mean, HE'S good IN it, though. Like, it's a bad movie, but HE'S good."

That's gonna be his obituary. "He did a ton of sh*t, BUT, he was the gem swimming in the sh*t."

I guess there are worse legacies to have than that. :lol: But c'mon, folks, that's his ceiling. "He and his charisma almost makes you wanna sit through two hours of pure garbage. Almost."

So it was before he ever even met Amber Heard. And so it shall forever remain. If he was ever the least bit concerned about his reputation, he should have started with being a lot more selective over the course of his career. Most of his catalog are movies you wouldn't make unless you lost a f*cking bet.

[Coola Yagami]

On the bright side, if Heard does lose all her roles, maybe she'll finally shed some real tears.

[superstaff]

Dude my wife sees every single thing he does without fail, and whenever I ask her what half of the movies are even about, she usually can't tell me. Or she'll admit, "Well... it's kinda stupid. But I mean, HE'S good IN it, though. Like, it's a bad movie, but HE'S good."

I dunnooooo. I actually had the displeasure of watching Mortdecai, and it was a steaming pile of cow dung. I didn't think he was great in it either, he seemed to be phoning it in big time. Same with Transcendence which I also had the displeasure of seeing. Stumbling upon these movies are funny stories, probably funnier than these bombs.

(And Mortdecai is about Depp playing a con artist that uses paintings to con people into paying millions for them, I believe. Then wackiness happens, and he's involved in a murder plot or whatever. Awful script with awful direction.)

That's gonna be his obituary. "He did a ton of sh*t, BUT, he was the gem swimming in the sh*t."

Sounds accurate, yes.

So it was before he ever even met Amber Heard. And so it shall forever remain. If he was ever the least bit concerned about his reputation, he should have started with being a lot more selective over the course of his career.

I guess he needed the dough, so he stopped caring about being selective. Same thing happened with Robin Williams. The end of his career was just flop after flop after flop. People don't talk about that anymore, and only remember him for Mrs. Doubtfire, Mork, Jumanji, Dead Poets Society, etc...and not for Old Dogs, License to Wed, RV, and the like. With Williams, a lot of it had to do with alimony payments and debts. Depp just seems to be feeding...other habits of his, you know the ones.

[AquaParade]

Heard did more than write an OP-ed in an attempt to ruin his name. She was talking about it everywhere. She accused him of literal rape as well. It's just wrong on so many levels.

[Andrew NDB]

Except Depp didn't provably lose any significant amount of work.

It's a little bit of a silly argument. Like, let's say you're like a super expensive babysitter sitting up in a mansion daycare -- that's where you babysit -- and that's your career. Like, $7,000 a day to watch a kid. One day your ex-wife very publicly accuses you of diddling the kids. Big public fervor. Naturally, everyone immediately pulls their kids out of your daycare, that's to be expected. So then you fight and win a long and ugly defamation suit against the ex-wife. During it, lots of ugly secrets come up that aren't illegal but not popular (like, maybe the ex-wife reveals you watch a ton of porn, and used to make her dress up like a drill instructor or something in the bedroom). Maybe some of those parents return their kids to your daycare but not even most. You still have the stigma of "babysitter who was accused of diddling kids," even if you won your day in court. Or in the court of public opinion, there's still the 35-40% of people who still believe the ex-wife. You're never going to get back to where you were, no matter what. The damage is done.

Kind of like school shootings where people say "How do you KNOW having armed security guards stopped any school shootings?" the answer is... we don't. And how do we not know that? Because they were prevented. They didn't happen. Potential shooters clocked the situation and went, "Oh damn... better not" and we'd never know. Same as the roles that will never come across Depp's desk now, but would've without this.

[Leo656]

Rather than engage hypotheticals, how about we stick to What We Know?

We know he never stopped working, and we know that aside from One Successful Franchise, he continues to exclusively make sh*tty movies nobody cares about. Same as the entire 1990s and the entire 2000s and the entire 2010s. Nothing Has Changed, post-accusations.

Can we conclusively prove OR disprove that he might have gotten offered, say, a dozen MORE bad scripts that would have done poor box office? No. But does it matter? No.

Are you gonna tell me with a straight face that at this stage in the game, anything that happened in his career post-2016 was going to be any different from the preceding 30 years? Come ON.

He's a likeable guy who makes sh*t movies nobody watches. That's ALL he's ever been known for. That's all he ever WILL be known for. There was no magic script that was gonna elevate him into being A Real Actor that someone just decided NOT to hand over to him after the Heard allegations.

If he "lost any work", it was undoubtedly and absolutely more sh*t like Mortdecai. WOW, I'm sure he's hurting from not having a dozen more scripts like THAT thrown his way. :roll:

Where are people coming up with this stupid idea that he had a "good career", or would have, and she ruined it? Even my wife thinks that's nonsense, and few people stan harder for Depp than she does, but she admits Obvious Bullsh*t when it's obvious. He made a lot of money, but he makes bad movies. Those are facts. That was his life WAY before he even met Amber Heard. And he never stopped working, this whole time. He even did a lot of stuff with his band, which he claims he enjoys even more than acting. So some might say that missing out on a few of those sh*t movies was a gift in disguise because he did other things with that time.

If someone can conclusively prove, like, "Oh, yeah, WB was gonna have Depp replace Affleck as Batman, he had a three-picture deal locked in for $25 million each, but then Amber Heard f*cked it all up", I might entertain that notion provided there's evidence. But I'm telling you, nothing like that was ever even being talked about. He was already as rich and as famous as he was ever gonna be. He's not an A-Lister and was never going to be, he's a C-Lister who failed upwards. Let's just be real about it. Nobody with as many bombs on their resume as THAT guy should even still be getting ANY work, if we're being completely blunt about it.

From where I sit, the last five years of the guy's career looks EXACTLY the same as the previous 25, minus any Pirates movies coming out obviously. Nothing Else Changed. And those Pirates movies were gonna be taking a break after the last two under-performed, anyway.

But again, this is where peoples' fanatical obsession with this guy just goes right over my head. He's the most successful "failure" working in the entertainment industry. Nobody, f*cking nobody has so many outright disasters on their resume and yet still commands such a high price tag and so many people lining up to lick the sweat from their nuts. What EXACTLY is the appeal of this individual? Even the one thing everyone universally loves him in, those Pirates movies... they're f*cking awful.

I don't get the fascination, I don't get the obsession, I don't get the defense of him, and I don't get the idea that somehow, If Not For Her, he'd have some magnificent career and another $100 million. None of it makes any sense at all to me. All I see is a wine-bloated jolly fellow who doesn't know how to wear a belt properly and probably doesn't shower as much as he really ought to.

[Andrew NDB]

All I'd say is look at Depp's IMDB page up until about 2017, which is when Heard started doing her thing. Go ahead, have a look. Year over year, look at those preceding 5 or so years, the body of work. That's about the kind of career he'd be having since and now if not for that.

[Leo656]

I stand even more firmly by my statement that he should thank his deity of choice that he even still gets any work, with a resume like that.

[AquaParade]

Some people are just hung up on whether or not we should feel bad for Johnny Depp and his wine, when that's really not the issue.

The reason his career losses are brought up is simply because it's a matter of fact- Heard said a bunch of lies and people stopped calling Depp. Whether he was a good actor or not, he was getting the work and making the studios money, until this went down.

The point about Depp losing work is simply a means to an end. It's not the end all - be all.

The point is Heard falsely accused him of rape and abuse, and the media + #metoo ran with it. That type of crap needs to be quelled.
No one deserves to be falsely accused of rape and hand waving it with "eh, they're both bad" is alarming and gross.

Getting into the particulars of Depp's career is fine, but when you go on these rants about how lame Depp is while calling people invested in the trial "stans" or whatever other derogatory term, it just sounds ignorant.

[Sumac]

Depp was slandered by a crazy bitch. That is all there is to it.
Playing "but he is a bad guy too" is beyond ignorant and dumb.

[Andrew NDB]

I stand even more firmly by my statement that he should thank his deity of choice that he even still gets any work, with a resume like that.

2018 - Fantastic Beasts 2
2018 - City of Lies
2017 - Murder on the Orient Express
2017 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales
2016 - Fantastic Beasts 1
2016 - Alice Through the Looking Glass
2015 - Black Mass (nominated for best actor)
2014 - Transcendence
2014 - Into the Woods
2013 - The Lone Ranger
2011 - The Rum Diary (Fear & Loathing 0)

Not all of those are good movies, but those are all BIG movies. Movies put into production before Heard said a word about anything. You notice something after these, on his IMDB? Nothing. He hasn't been tapped for a single big movie since. Just mini-series voiceovers and music video stuff. Fantastic Beasts 3 was the only one, but then he was pushed into leaving it. But this is entirely a coincidence, yeah?

[Leo656]

It's not "ignorant" to anyone who doesn't jock-sniff celebrities. To anyone with clear eyes it's just two drug addict pieces of trash who are reaping the "benefits" of their own poor life choices. And yes, that means both of them.

He chose to be with her, he had a much more stable family life before that. He knew better than to do what he did. Now he's a "victim." :lol: No, just a dumbass. "Never stick your Dick in Crazy" is like Line 1 of the Bro Code. It's like any woman who went to Weinstein's hotel room knowing full well what the consequences would be. Do I feel sorry for them, either? Honestly, no. "Play stupid games," etc. Etc.

Everyone says she's such a sh*t actress, but she had this idiot fooled well enough to put a goddamn ring on it. So either she's actually a GREAT actress, or he's the biggest dumbass alive for falling for her sh*t to begin with. The latter is the likely.

I can attest from my own experiences with my parents, "We both just REALLY love cocaine!" is NOT a foundation for a stable relationship. Yet it's all these two losers had. What a couple of morons.

So no, it's not "dumb" to call it from that perspective. It's actually the only Correct point of view. These things play out in Real Life all the time, yet when it's not celebrities people just say "Wow, what a moron, getting involved with such a bimbo!" And that's the correct response. What's NOT correct is thinking the guy who falls for the Obvious Train Wreck is NOT a moron simply because you like a couple of his movies. THAT is what's "dumb". He deserves every bit of inconvenience to come his way, because Stupidity Should Be Painful.

No sympathy.

Andrew: Once it became obvious the guy can't draw a crowd, WHY would studios keep wanting to throw another $20 million at him every three months? He's not worth it, of course sh*t was gonna dry up. "Lone Ranger" was the true beginning of the end, it just took a while to play out.

Nothing is EVER just a coincidence but the accusations were just the last straw. He's not good for box office, but he's very expensive. Any excuse to cut a guy like that, a company will take. The timing was convenient, but that's not why stuff dried up. Not in and of itself. His movies simply do not draw enough money to justify him being in them.

[Andrew NDB]

It's not "ignorant" to anyone who doesn't jock-sniff celebrities. To anyone with clear eyes it's just two drug addict pieces of trash who are reaping the "benefits" of their own poor life choices. And yes, that means both of them.

It's still weird to me that you keep equating "I think Johnny Depp got screwed here" with "you must love/admire/idolize Johnny Depp." I don't even remember the last Johnny Depp movie that I even thought was any good (maybe "Blow"?), let alone do I have any thoughts about the guy personally either way.

[AquaParade]

I’ve been pointing this out - detractors keep pretending it’s about celebrity worship. It’s a way for them to exuse themselves from the facts. It’s “why would I waste my time caring about that?” Followed by a hot take.

Leo wants to have an informed opinion, but anyone who disagrees with him is obsessed with Depp. So does he know the facts of the case or not? Either he’s uninformed or he’s also stuck in his nose deep enough in this to have a fair opinion. You can’t have it both ways. Of course, I’m sure it’s his wife’s fault that he knows anything about this, not his.

[Coola Yagami]

I’ve been pointing this out - detractors keep pretending it’s about celebrity worship. It’s a way for them to exuse themselves from the facts. It’s “why would I waste my time caring about that?” Followed by a hot take.

Leo wants to have an informed opinion, but anyone who disagrees with him is obsessed with Depp. So does he know the facts of the case or not? Either he’s uninformed or he’s also stuck in his nose deep enough in this to have a fair opinion. You can’t have it both ways. Of course, I’m sure it’s his wife’s fault that he knows anything about this, not his.

I'm sure if your wife went on and on and on (AND ON) about how great a guy Depp is despite all his vices and how much she'd like to blow the guy, you'd be pretty dead-set against Depp too.

There's no argument Depp is trash as well, but so is Amber and she shouldn't have to get away with everything she did scott free because 'woman'. The whole deal is about her finally facing consequences.

I wouldn't lose sleep if they both literally killed each other. I never got too much into the Pirates movies and I think maybe the last movie I ever really saw him in that I somewhat cared about was Edward Scissorhands.

[AquaParade]

Yeah, that would lead me to despise Depp, obviously.

However, it has nothing to do with the trial or the outcome.

What’s lame is lambasting anyone who followed the trial as Depp-obsessed, while pretending that you spend every waking minute doing something more important than those who watched the trial. And then thinking that you get an equal opinion without doing the research you lambasted everyone else for doing.

Whether you would lose sleep over them Killing themselves is irrelevant, imo. It’s just another redirect to focusing on celebrity-worship or lack of celebrity worship. I mean, great, neither would I.

Just my two cents.

[Leo656]

Anyone who follows ANY celebrity trial is "celebrity obsessed". Jesus Christ, they're not your friends or your family.

This isn't a new opinion, by the way, I've been bitching about it ever since the O.J. Trial. "Who gives a sh*t? Yeah, it's horrible he cut the woman's head off, but holy sh*t, he's not your Dad or your uncle, it makes NO sense to be so invested." And yet people stayed glued to their TV screens like zombies for ages watching every single second of it play out, scrutinizing every single twist and turn as if they had some personal stake in the outcome. It's DUMB.

Like, I'm probably the biggest Hulk Hogan fan who ever lived, and yet I've never seen one second of the Gawker case from a few years ago because it's stupid to care so much if you're not personally involved. I see transcripts, I've read stuff, but other than "Good for him, they invaded his privacy" I don't have any strong emotional investment in it.

The same people who hawk over this stuff, are generally the same people who deride tabloids as "trash". But it's THE SAME THING! It's just throwing rich peoples' personal trash out in the streets for people to pick apart and disseminate as "entertainment". And there's a saying, "You can tell everything about a society by how it entertains itself". If this stuff is "entertaining", then we're falling faster than I thought.

If you're not a 12-year old girl, or a bored housewife, it's simply not a good look to be so invested. People DO have better things to do than read tabloids or watch celebrity court cases. Like "literally anything else".

I mean, whatever fills a persons' days, I guess. I personally think it's a complete waste of life. The only court cases I give a sh*t about are the ones where I'm listed as a Defendant. Anyone else, it's Not My Business. Definitely not some rich c*cksucker.

So less to do with This Case Specifically. More a general sense of "Why on Earth are people so goddamn obsessed with celebrities and their personal lives?", which is lifelong. When I see someone in a movie or TV show, I stop thinking about them when the credits come up. Our "relationship" is purely transactional. To me, that's healthy. To me, dissecting their personal lives when I have no connection to or investment in them, is NOT healthy, or productive.

Hopefully this clarifies my position. I am personally of the opinion that very little separates a person who obsesses over celebrity tabloid gossip from the teenage girl with the Justin Bieber poster on their wall. And I judge each of them the same.

[AquaParade]

No one here even cares about Depp as more than the subject of this trial. Some people simply can’t see past the celebrity aspect, I guess.

Whether you are celebrity obsessed or not, trials as big as this do have an effect on the culture. Especially our current culture where public opinion and trial by social media are everything.

For me, the biggest victory is for the truth, in the face of media bias and narrative. Again, not about sniffing Depp’s undies, but that’s the box retractors want to put others in.

[Leo656]

Here's the only immediate effect I've seen it have:

Over the past two weeks, there's been a LOT more people in the Comments sections on various news articles calling women "Dumb whores", "C*nts", "Trash", and wishing they were dead.

Jeff Hardy gets arrested for DUI while driving on a revoked license and blowing three times the legal limit: "Wow, I really hope this guy gets help, he clearly needs it. Addiction is a motherf*cker, man. Poor guy."

Tammy "Sunny" Sytch gets busted in the same city, for the same thing, except in her case a person did die. Comments: "Wow, what a piece of trash, she needs to f*cking die. I hope she rots in jail, or someone shanks her ass." Now granted, in her case a person did die, and she is at fault and needs to be punished for that, and hopefully she will be. BUT, it is noteworthy that this isn't her first DUI, and in EVERY case, going back YEARS, it's the same "What a dumb f*cking whore, she needs to be f*cking dead" comments. They've just gotten louder and more violent in the past few weeks. But a man gets busted for the same thing, "He just needs help." WHEN he kills someone inevitably, people will still be preaching "compassion and understanding". Because he's a dude. They'll ignore what a trash human being he is, because they always have. He and Sunny have the same exact pattern of "addiction", going back 20 years, yet at every turn he gets sympathy and she gets called a stupid, trashy whore. And now, it's louder.

It doesn't take a genius to isolate the variable, that being "Because Woman".

And then Jeff's sister-in-law Reby puts him on blast for being an idiot, which isn't the first time she's done so. And when SHE speaks out, rightly, calling this guy a drunken pilled-up moron, what do you think people say to/about her? "This stupid whore needs to shut her mouth and mind her business. She needs to be on her back doing what she's best at, not running her f*cking mouth about sh*t that isn't her business." Meanwhile, her kids and Jeff's kids live and play on the same street that Jeff drives drunk down all the time, so yeah, it IS her business and she should call him a moron as often and loudly as she can.

Again, the incidents aren't new, but what IS new, is that the rage comments about "F*ck these stupid whores" and "Dumb c*nt needs to shut her mouth or drop dead" are getting louder and more vicious all of a sudden.

Experts did predict this, by the way. Many of them said that in the wake of the Depp verdict, outspoken misogynistic hate speech towards women would start to boil over, because Depp got away with saying all the awful stuff HE said, so that means "It's okay. You can call a woman a c*nt or a whore or talk about mutilating and f*cking her corpse. It's all in good fun, especially if she annoys you!"

Still waiting to see any sign of "justice for make abuse victims" spinning out of it all. Pretty sure that's never gonna happen, since our society is, and will remain, predicated upon "Men can't be abused, you pussy." But I definitely AM seeing a very prominent and disturbing rise in the "Trashy whores all need to die" stuff. Like, immediately.

If/when I see any proof that there's any other trickle-down effect from the Depp verdict, I'll be sure and acknowledge it. But I'm not seeing it yet. All I am seeing, is "Well it's okay that Depp talks about killing and raping women, so it's okay for me to do it too." Lots and lots of it. And in places where such talk already existed, it's gotten louder.

It's just a bit unseemly, the double-standard. Like you'd have to be trying to not see it, to not see it.

And we all know I don't like women. So if *I'M* finding it all a bit "too much" and a little bit disturbing, that should say something about the bigger picture.

[Leo656]

For me, the biggest victory is for the truth

Here's The Truth:

ANY guy who isn't rich, goes into court and tries to defend themselves from those same accusations... and those SAME videos and SAME text messages are entered into evidence... the guy does NOT walk out of court smiling. Zero chance.

No, Any Other Guy in that situation gets told by the judge, "Wow, you really are an asshole, talking to and about your wife like that. She yelled at you first, big deal, you think it's okay to react that way? Clearly, you need help." And then at the absolute least, they get sentenced to court-appointed anger management and drug rehab. At worst, those texts lead the court to believe the accusations, because What An Asshole, and the guy gets jail time.

THAT is "the truth". The case proved Once Again that the law works entirely different for people who can afford good lawyers.

That's not a "truth" I can get behind. More than anything, I want One Set Of Rules that applies to everyone. This outcome undermines that dream entirely. So it's only natural I don't see it as any kind of victory. It's a win for him, personally, but not for anyone in his situation who isn't rich and famous. Those Guys are still gonna end up paying fines, going to rehab, and getting sent to jail. Even if "She yelled at him first".

That's "the truth".

[AquaParade]

Yeah, that’s what usually happens and this time it didn’t.

And before you say “that’s because Depp is a celebrity”, remember that his case was quickly tossed aside in the Uk in the exact manner you stated. It ruined his reputation for years.

By anyone’s guess, Depp was set to lose this trial, despite the overwhelming evidence in his favor, because that’s just the way it is.

But he didn’t lose. And it’s awesome. And the media hates that. And they are still fighting it and pushing Amber. But people aren’t buying it. And the harder they push it, the more trust they lose. And the more eyeballs on this situation, the better.

It’s a pretty great outcome. But at the least, let’s drop the idea that anyone who cares is only invested because they like Pirates.

[Leo656]

Well, some legal experts posit the theory that Depp lost in the UK because aside from the Royal Family, they don't jock-sniff celebrities as hard over there as they do here. So that may well have been a factor in that one.

Many legal experts also declare that, by rights, he should have lost here as well. The burden of proof was on him to remove any doubt as to whether or not he ever "abused" her. He didn't do that. All he proved was that her claims against him were exaggerated; he failed to prove they had no merit whatsoever. Which isn't the same thing at all.

In a normal, non-celebrity trial, those text messages and videos would have been counted as conclusive proof of "abusive behavior", and again, Anger Management and Rehab would follow in short order. The fact that she yelled at him first would have been dismissed under "Two wrongs don't make a right, you're supposed to control your temper as an adult", which he didn't do. "She yelled at/hit you first" does not count in Real Life.

I've been through "the system", I'm simply attesting how these things ACTUALLY work in Real Life. And yes, it DOES come down to whether or not you can afford a good lawyer. $100 million in the bank gives a person in Depp's position a certain amount of leverage a commoner in the same exact scenario simply does not have.

So yeah, technically, if the letter of the law had been followed, he would have lost. Anyone else in his position would have lost, because those texts and videos were very damning. Credit to his legal team for flipping the entire thing onto her being inciteful, and her claims being exaggerated. It's a classic deflection maneuver, a Day One move for any good lawyer, but again - speaking as a person who took Criminal Justice - that in and of itself shouldn't technically have dissolved the entire case against him. He should still have been found at fault, just not to the utmost degree since some of the claims against him were proven to be blown up. Those specific claims should have been dismissed, BUT the texts and videos still upheld as "evidence of abusive behavior", objectively.

Again, just speaking from the perspective of someone who's been through this all before. I'm telling you, nobody but That Guy gets That Result in this case. And it IS because he's rich and famous and can afford the best legal counsel. Even the "experts" are saying, "That's how it works in America, the better/more expensive lawyer wins the case, that trumps everything else." Because that simply is how it works.

Look at OJ. Murdered two people and walked away free and clear, because his Very Expensive Lawyer proved that once upon a time one of the investigating cops made a racist remark. That shouldn't have been enough to throw the entire case out, but it was, because OJ had a fast-talking shark in his pocket. So he got away with murder. That's How It Works Here.

Now, whether or not calling someone a name after they called you a name, or hitting them after they hit you first, making "jokes" about killing and raping someone, etc., counts as "abuse" or just reacting... that's a conversation worth having. By all means, let's have that conversation. I say, no, it's not "abuse" if you're just reacting. So technically, I'm on "his side". Technically.

...But The Law, as it stands, says otherwise. The Law says, "If she hits you, insults you, threatens you... you bite your tongue, keep your hands in your pockets, and take a walk. You don't insult back, you don't threaten, you don't hit, you Be A Man and walk away." Again, that's not what I say, that's what The Law says. The Law, were it followed properly, would see both the man and woman in this scenario as "abusive" and judged accordingly.

I'm all for revisions, personally. I think it's bullsh*t that men are powerless in such situations. But changing that on a mass scale would mean making it legal and fair to hit a woman after she hits you first, and that simply won't ever happen.

[ZariusTwo]

Looks like Amber's getting recast


https://comicbook.com/dc/news/aquaman-2-reportedly-recasting-amber-heard-mera/

[Coola Yagami]

Looks like Amber's getting recast


https://comicbook.com/dc/news/aquaman-2-reportedly-recasting-amber-heard-mera/

:lol::lol::lol:

[Andrew NDB]

Looks like Amber's getting recast


https://comicbook.com/dc/news/aquaman-2-reportedly-recasting-amber-heard-mera/

*sigh* I mean, I get it. It sucks, but leaving her in the movie would cost them money. If the options are no Mera at all or recast and surgical reshoots... I guess you recast and do surgical reshoots. It's not like Amber Heard loses her paycheck for doing the movie.

[Leo656]

I mean, I liked her as Mera, but the important thing is that Mera remains an important character in the ongoing storyline. Losing the character completely because the actress has nuclear heat would be bad. A recasting is the best common sense solution.

I mean, one chick is as good as another when it comes to this sh*t anyways. Everyone knows women can't act. One chick with nice tits in a red wig is just as good as the next one, if you really break it down.

Any idea who they're gonna go with? I heard rumors about one of the Game of Thrones chicks getting it. But they're pretty awful, not sure I'd like that.

[Andrew NDB]

Any idea who they're gonna go with? I heard rumors about one of the Game of Thrones chicks getting it. But they're pretty awful, not sure I'd like that.

That was just fan-(re)casting, but yeah, Emilia Clarke wouldn't be bad. We'd know they'd have chemistry because they do... we've seen it when they played husband and wife on Game of Thrones. She'd probably do it if she's not tied up with Secret Invasion.

https://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/mp/O2n1sqRTqkQl.jpg

Man, what a nightmare for everybody aboard that movie, though. And even still, WB will still get sh** from the pro-Heard people about "firing" Amber Heard now.

[Leo656]

Not to mention the expense of all the reshoots, on top of all the money they've already spent, AND all the money spent on the Flash movie, which we know for a fact is not going to do good business at all. Like, word is they would just cancel Flash, if they didn't already spend nearly $300 million on it. They know it's bad, and gonna tank (Their star can't even do the publicity tour! What a f*cking disaster! :lol:) but they have to try and get SOME money back. And now they're gonna spend like $50 million on Aquaman pickups, at least.

So All This Sh*t is gonna put WB in a bit of a hole, collectively. What a mess. And neither movie promises to be very good, so... they're bound to lose a bit of black ink.

I guess Emilia Clarke wouldn't be the worst choice. She's kinda lousy, but she's hot, so... sure, I guess. I could see it.

[AquaParade]

I still haven’t seen Aquaman. It seems like a fun world they’ve created and I don’t hate Jason Mamoa or anything, but I feel like the character is super corny. Black Manta does seem cool though.

[Leo656]

The trailers made it look like way more of a goofy romp than it is. I was expecting to roll my eyes the whole time but I was very pleasantly surprised. It's actually pretty dark and violent in spots. I liked it way more than I thought I would. It's the closest thing the DC movies have to being "An MCU movie" in the best ways, not the dumb ways.

It's very... bright, which is... a choice. Like, I had no idea there was so much neon on the ocean floor. But I mean, whatever. Past that everything else is really good.

There's this ONE scene where him and Mera have to go traipsing through the desert looking for some Macguffin, and it's all just so they can have a scene of them half-dead and dehydrated, but like... he's HALF fish-man and she's 100% fish-person, and they knew they'd be going to the desert, it wasn't a surprise to them... and NEITHER of these two idiots thinks to bring a f*cking canteen? It's just SO f*cking implausible and it's honestly one of the dumbest things I can remember ever seeing in a movie.

It "has" to happen because the scene ends in a spot where they need water and don't have any, so naturally they "couldn't" think to bring any or else the scene doesn't work at all. They wrote it backwards from "They need water but don't have any", but like... they could have thought to bring some and then spilled it, or something. ANYTHING would be better than what they actually did... which was drop these two people who need lots of water to survive into the goddamn desert without so much as a juice box. Bad, BAD writing. Zack Snyder movies do not have such egregious plot holes, let it just be said. :trazz:

But aside from that ONE thing, which is so dumb I can't believe it made it in... it's actually a Very Good Movie. I can totally see why most people think it's the best DCEU movie, even though I absolutely do not agree with that.

I waited a while to finally watch it, because the trailers made it look SO dumb. And I still can't get some of my friends to watch it, because of that. "Dude, it looks SO goofy and dumb." But it's actually not! There's just a few dumb spots, but altogether the trailers were very misleading.

"Shazam!", same thing. I liked that one more than I'd expected, too. Same thing, the trailers made it look like a total cartoon but then the movie wasn't that.

Aquaman does suck when he isn't Jason Mamoa, though. No getting around that.

[Autbot_Benz]

Looks like Amber's getting recast


https://comicbook.com/dc/news/aquaman-2-reportedly-recasting-amber-heard-mera/

looks like its allegedly not true Amber's Agent debunks it

According to Heard's spokesperson, "The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive and slightly insane.”

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/amber-heard-not-fired-aquaman-2-1235294301/

[Coola Yagami]

According to Heard's spokesperson, "The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive and slightly insane.”


Oh... so just like her then.

[Andrew NDB]

It's not like WB would be obligated to tell her she's been recast. Her agent wouldn't necessarily have any idea.

[Leo656]

Yeah, one version of the legend has it that Val Kilmer found out he was fired from Batman 4 when he saw the news on TV that they were going with Clooney instead. I've heard other versions of that story, too, including versions where he supposedly quit (which most people say was unlikely), so maybe it's not true, but the point is that actors are generally the last ones to know if they've been let go or replaced. There's a hundred stories like that one, even if that specific one is a myth.

So yeah, she wouldn't know. They could cut her entirely or give her part to someone else and she wouldn't necessarily find out about it until she saw the movie. They're not obligated to tell her. In fact, it's considered better if they don't, because corporations are taught to engage in "conflict-free resolution" as much as possible. Which means "Avoid situations that could lead to a meltdown or someone throwing a chair." Replacing someone behind their back and letting them find out third-hand is right out of that playbook. It's considered the "safest" way to essentially fire someone. You're not in the room with them so there's no chance of them pitching a fit, at least where anyone can see it. If they flip out at home and start smashing their own windows, that's not your problem. You just don't want them doing that on "company property".

I mean, if the options are "recast and reshoot" OR "Leave the movie in its current chopped-up state with huge chunks of it missing" it seems pretty obvious what the better and more likely solution is.

[superstaff]

I mean, if the options are "recast and reshoot" OR "Leave the movie in its current chopped-up state with huge chunks of it missing" it seems pretty obvious what the better and more likely solution is.

Call me cynical (and I am), but I think they'll likely just chop the movie to bits because it's just cheaper that way for them. They'll cross their fingers, and hope for the best. Like, recasting and reshooting is possible, I won't deny that, though I think they'll try some more test screenings and if any are remotely positive, they'll go with a chopped version instead since they're greedy a-holes.

[Andrew NDB]

Look what they did with Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead" and Tig Notaro. Surgical replacement can be done pretty efficiently.

[superstaff]

Look what they did with Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead" and Tig Notaro. Surgical replacement can be done pretty efficiently.

It's not question of whether it can be done or not. It's whether WB decides it's worth doing re-shoots at their own expense.

[Autbot_Benz]

Ben Affleck's Bruce will be in this movie

Announced on his Instagram page, Mamoa posted a picture of himself and Affleck on the set of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Along with the post, Mamoa included a caption voicing his excitement to be reuniting with his Justice League co-star. "REUNITED bruce and arthur. love u and miss u Ben WB studio tours just explored the backlot alright. busted on set all great things coming AQUAMAN 2 all my aloha j"

https://i.imgur.com/iM2qfej.png


https://collider.com/aquaman-2-ben-affleck-bruce-wayne-batman-set-image-jason-momoa/

[IMJ]

They really need to do an Affleck "comic book" Batman flick.

[Andrew NDB]

Wow, this could mean a lot of things. Bruce's Batman sticks around post-Flash and moreover he's still the DCEU Batman. Also this smells like fresh reshoots/pickup shoots so this could be pretty significant. There was word that the Keaton Batman would pop up in this movie... maybe this is replacing that?

There's no reason in the world we can't get Affleck Batman movies right alongside the Reeves ones. Pattinson can be the Elseworlds Batman. Reeves can wrap up his little trilogy and it can f*** right off.

[TigerClaw]

Wow, this could mean a lot of things. Bruce's Batman sticks around post-Flash and moreover he's still the DCEU Batman. Also this smells like fresh reshoots/pickup shoots so this could be pretty significant. There was word that the Keaton Batman would pop up in this movie... maybe this is replacing that?
Or they are doing reshoots because they removed Amber Heard from the movie entirely.

[Andrew NDB]

Or they are doing reshoots because they removed Amber Heard from the movie entirely.

Maybe but... what, they're going to remove the love story and pregnancy story and give it to Bruce?

[IMJ]

Wow, this could mean a lot of things. Bruce's Batman sticks around post-Flash and moreover he's still the DCEU Batman. Also this smells like fresh reshoots/pickup shoots so this could be pretty significant. There was word that the Keaton Batman would pop up in this movie... maybe this is replacing that?

There's no reason in the world we can't get Affleck Batman movies right alongside the Reeves ones. Pattinson can be the Elseworlds Batman. Reeves can wrap up his little trilogy and it can f*** right off.

I still haven't seen "The Batman".... :lol:
Eh. Someday. When I'm bored and need a "comic book fix".

[Andrew NDB]

I still haven't seen "The Batman".... :lol:
Eh. Someday. When I'm bored

It may not help you much with that, actually.

[AquaParade]

Called Affleck coming back.

This won’t be the last of him.

[ZariusTwo]

Apparently this is because Lost Kingdom is being moved up the slate to come out before Flash and it's to retain some consistency with continuity. A cut now exists out there with Keaton and Mamoa from the revised timeline, now giving way to the prior timeline, I've gone crosseyed

And test screenings for Aquaman 2 also reveal Keatons' version of the cameo confused the hell out of audiences

https://twitter.com/vieweranon/status/1552805634902560769?s=21&t=Ja9o_wte14BUyeIE1mj26w

[Andrew NDB]

And test screenings for Aquaman 2 also reveal Keatons' version of the cameo confused the hell out of audiences

https://twitter.com/vieweranon/status/1552805634902560769?s=21&t=Ja9o_wte14BUyeIE1mj26w

So it IS a replacement of the Keaton cameo, then.

[AquaParade]

This is going to be good for everyone who threw a fit or had a forum meltdown because they didn’t like the latest Batman film.

One for realism and one for multiverse type crap.

Best of both worlds imo.

And Keaton running around too? Sure, why not. This is great.

[ZariusTwo]

Amber has filed for bankruptcy

https://www.geo.tv/latest/430888-amber-heard-files-for-bankruptcy-after-johnny-depp-trial

[Coola Yagami]

Amber has filed for bankruptcy

https://www.geo.tv/latest/430888-amber-heard-files-for-bankruptcy-after-johnny-depp-trial

And I didn't lose sleep over it.

[Andrew NDB]

This is going to be good for everyone who threw a fit or had a forum meltdown because they didn’t like the latest Batman film.

One for realism and one for multiverse type crap.

Not really at all.

[AquaParade]

Not really at all.

I think so. Most people who had a meltdown over Pattinson/Reeves rather have Affleck.

Affleck is involved in the more fantastical version of the DC, while Pattinson's world is as grounded as it gets for Batman.

Two pretty different flavors. If neither of these are satisfying to a Batman fan, they should maybe just stick to the comics, imo. And hey, the comics are still great.

[Andrew NDB]

I think so. Most people who had a meltdown over Pattinson/Reeves rather have Affleck.

Affleck is involved in the more fantastical version of the DC, while Pattinson's world is as grounded as it gets for Batman.

Two pretty different flavors. If neither of these are satisfying to a Batman fan, they should maybe just stick to the comics, imo. And hey, the comics are still great.

Oh, well on that note yeah. But what will probably amount to a quick cameo by Ben in Aquaman 2 is hardly even stevens with the Pattinson situation, or even really much of anything to get all that excited about. A little, sure, but what it's not is, "See? Everybody can be happy now!"

[AquaParade]

Oh, well on that note yeah. But what will probably amount to a quick cameo by Ben in Aquaman 2 is hardly even stevens with the Pattinson situation, or even really much of anything to get all that excited about. A little, sure, but what it's not is, "See? Everybody can be happy now!"

Okay, fair enough. But it's hard for me to believe that this is all he is coming back for, so I'm saying this with the mindset that we will be seeing Ben again.

I could be wrong, but why even tangle yourself in this mess all over again, if that wasn't your intention? Remember how tired Ben was of being asked about Batman, before he dropped the role?

He's opening that can of worms again and his fans are rabid.

Again, maybe not, but it would be sweet to have both versions exist simultaneously.

[Sumac]

If anything I can respect WB stubbornness of trying to release their movies...despite reshoots, rewrites, rewritings. If only they had GOOD writers and TALENTED managers to accompany their will to make DCCU happen.

Also, WB has become Valve of movies: like Valve they are redoing their movies many-many times before release, having multiple previous version of them canned and cannibalized for the sake of the new ones.

[Autbot_Benz]

Christmas 2023 release date since it needs more time in post production

https://deadline.com/2022/08/aquaman-2-shazam-fury-of-the-gods-hbo-max-house-party-evil-dead-rise-1235099521/

[Andrew NDB]

lol, a whole year later, pretty much. Shesus. Almost 6 years between movies, what a great idea.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Christmas 2023 release date since it needs more time in post production

https://deadline.com/2022/08/aquaman-2-shazam-fury-of-the-gods-hbo-max-house-party-evil-dead-rise-1235099521/

Yup, sounds like course correcting.

[ProphetofGanja]

lol, a whole year later, pretty much. Shesus. Almost 6 years between movies, what a great idea.

Another slam dunk for the WB execs :lol:

[Andrew NDB]

Might as well just retitle it "The Aquaman" at this point. Hope nobody notices.

[AquaParade]

And supposedly Cavill is back in Black Adam, for the end credits or something. Still a rumor but high chance of being true, given the sources.

Seems they are building to a new JL, but who knows if Snyder comes back. I don’t see it happening and I don’t want it to, but my feeling is that they don’t know who will direct it yet.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Snyder do another Superman movie or another DC movie in general, but I don’t want to see his awful take on evil future Superman against edgy Batman and Joker, which looked like complete dog sh1t.

[Andrew NDB]

All I want to see Snyder do in the DCEU is finish out his Man of Steel trilogy. When we were going to get Brainiac in part 2 and all. Or better yet just treat Man of Steel like The Hobbit, and now give him a proper "Superman" trilogy.

Just don't make him the architect of the DCEU again. He's not that guy.

[IMJ]

Just don't make him the architect of the DCEU again. He's not that guy.

Batman is mythological. But Superman isn't a "Zeus" on Earth - he's an everyman that can interact with everyone and although he does so humbly he's put on a pedestal by people.

I hate to say it, but Singer's Superman Returns captured that relatively well.

[Autbot_Benz]

According to several insiders, the DC Comics sequel has not been very well-received by test-screening audiences. In fact, it's been referred to as "the worst DC movie yet."

Looking at some of the films in this franchise, that would be quite an accomplishment!


These reactions do tend to be exaggerated, but it's not just the online "scoopers" that have been weighing-in. Jeff Sneider has also heard that Aquaman 2 is "terrible," and he seems to feel this is the reason star Jason Momoa is going to leave the lead role behind him and play Lobo going forward.

https://comicbookmovie.com/aquaman/aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom/aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom-has-reportedly-not-gone-over-well-in-test-screenings-a200599#gs.ql7s51

[Andrew NDB]

FFS, he's not going to be playing Lobo. That's not a thing and never was a thing.

Though I'm not too surprised about the movie, if true. They just baaarely pulled it together on the first one and even then, fairly flimsy. This one? It has the potential to be super convoluted and who know what state it's in with all the Amber Heard part cutting/removal.

[AquaParade]

It’s possible he does play Lobo. Aquaman seems finished.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

It’s possible he does play Lobo. Aquaman seems finished.

Even if it's finished, they canned Batgirl when it was finished. Would WB want to risk releasing it, at this point?

[Andrew NDB]

It’s possible he does play Lobo. Aquaman seems finished.

In what? There isn't going to be like a Lobo movie. 5 people would show up.

[AquaParade]

Even if it's finished, they canned Batgirl when it was finished. Would WB want to risk releasing it, at this point?

Good question but hard to say without knowing all the financial details. This film is part of an established series that previously hit $1b, so it may be worth risking considering a lot of work is already done on it. I expect them to release it.

[Andrew NDB]

Even if it's finished, they canned Batgirl when it was finished. Would WB want to risk releasing it, at this point?

Radically different scenarios. Batgirl cost them about twenty bucks to make but would have cost them a mint to market and at the end of the day was only a TV-quality affair, as they've reminded us over and over again. Also, probably horribly woke and divisive and would have made everyone involved look terrible had it ever hit the big screen.

Aquaman 2? 205 million dollar budget with multiple reshoots at this point. It's coming out, period.

[IMJ]

Even if it's finished, they canned Batgirl when it was finished. Would WB want to risk releasing it, at this point?

I thought this too - or go straight to streaming or D2DVD with it or something. They can save face by saying they are "releasing it for the fans" while they focus on their new projects.

[AquaParade]

In what? There isn't going to be like a Lobo movie. 5 people would show up.

It could be in anything. He could play a villain in a film, the star of a series, or a low-budget film.

I don't see any reason for it not to happen. Aquaman is more well known, but beggers can't be choosers and Aquaman's universe is ending, at least for now. If the guy can secure himself another job, with a character he may even find more interesting, then it seems likely enough to me.

In fact, James also mentioned that he and Cavill were discussing future projects in which Cavill could appear, perhaps not as Superman. I'm betting Gunn is offering a lot of "severance jobs" to people who have been through the ringer with the previous management and are now getting snuffed out of a job. Maybe they are minor roles compared to Aquaman or Superman, but it both throws previous actors a bone and gives James Gunn a chance to bring in quality talent in smaller roles.

Radically different scenarios. Batgirl cost them about twenty bucks to make but would have cost them a mint to market and at the end of the day was only a TV-quality affair, as they've reminded us over and over again. Also, probably horribly woke and divisive and would have made everyone involved look terrible had it ever hit the big screen.

Aquaman 2? 205 million dollar budget with multiple reshoots at this point. It's coming out, period.

Agreed. There is more money invested in Aquaman, more completed, and it's already made a name for itself, so it's guaranteed to make something.

[Andrew NDB]

Momoa wrote a treatment where Aquaman goes to the UN to fight to stop shrinking ice caps? Uuuuugh.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/jason-momoa-aquaman-2-story-treatment-not-followed-warner-bros-1235597094/

[Sumac]

Momoa wrote a treatment where Aquaman goes to the UN to fight to stop shrinking ice caps? Uuuuugh.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/jason-momoa-aquaman-2-story-treatment-not-followed-warner-bros-1235597094/
Reminds me of Superman 4, which was basically political pamphlet of Reeves. And we know how this movie ended.
My take - let Momoa embarrass himself and tank his carrier, if he wants to be a politician as opposed to a court jester.

[Andrew NDB]

Reminds me of Superman 4, which was basically political pamphlet of Reeves. And we know how this movie ended.
My take - let Momoa embarrass himself and tank his carrier, if he wants to be a politician as opposed to a court jester.

Though he isn't wrong in the article. He's made a bunch of really cool stuff that nobody talks about. Like mini-series stuff. It's just he is only making big money from stuff where, yeah, he is the jester.

[ZariusTwo]

It's worth noting that by the end of Superman IV, the message is how wrong Clark was and that it wasn't his right to relieve humanity of their weapons

[ZariusTwo]

Details on the rocky road of production, including the multiple reshoots and word of several failed test screenings

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom-reshoots-1235532158/

The latest round of cuts include omitting any appearance from Batman, be it Keaton or Affleck

[Sumac]

Aquaman & the Lost Money.

[IMJ]

The first Aquaman had the benefit of being something new - truly the first fleshed out "underwater Superhero" on film. And it had some decent set pieces throughout as well.

But that's what carried that movie. Nobody cares about "Aquaman" as a franchise.

[Andrew NDB]

The first Aquaman had the benefit of being something new - truly the first fleshed out "underwater Superhero" on film. And it had some decent set pieces throughout as well.

But that's what carried that movie. Nobody cares about "Aquaman" as a franchise.

And post-Black Panther 2 and Avatar 2, probably people are bored with the underwater stuff. At least, certainly the novelty is over. We'll see. If there's snazzy trailers there might be some buzz, but I doubt it.

[Autbot_Benz]

Fbb4e_Q6wR8?si=oPLoxAbe6zEbaUTF

4 Days we get a trailer

[ZariusTwo]

Looks pretty good for a troubled production.

Might just pull off a minor miracle with this

[ZariusTwo]

Reactions to teaser

https://comicbookmovie.com/aquaman/aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom/new-aquaman-the-lost-kingdom-reactions-emerge-following-teaser-release-a205601

[Autbot_Benz]

Plot Synopsis

Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father's death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all. This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman's family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.

https://comicbook.com/movies/news/aquaman-2-synopsis-the-lost-kingdom-plot-details-spoilers/

[CyberCubed]

Will this be the final bomba for the Snyderverse.

[Coola Yagami]

Plot Synopsis



https://comicbook.com/movies/news/aquaman-2-synopsis-the-lost-kingdom-plot-details-spoilers/

So.... just a repeat villain? They couldn't get Ocean Master or someone?

[Autbot_Benz]

So.... just a repeat villain? They couldn't get Ocean Master or someone?

Orm was Ocean Master in the first Aquaman movie. Black Manta is Aquaman's main villain so it makes sense.

[oldmanwinters]

Anybody think the final cut will have largely cut most of Heard's scenes from the film. In the Teaser, she basically has a cameo... and even then it looked like full CGI to me.

EDIT: I guess her only inclusion is this:
https://twitter.com/godsandmortaIs/status/1701030661916680700

But at first watch, I thought this was supposed to be her too:
https://i.imgur.com/IRPjMKbl.jpg

[Coola Yagami]

Orm was Ocean Master in the first Aquaman movie. Black Manta is Aquaman's main villain so it makes sense.

Ah coulda sworn Black Manta WAS the villain of the first movie, for a similar reason, main villain and all that.

[IMJ]

Ah coulda sworn Black Manta WAS the villain of the first movie, for a similar reason, main villain and all that.

He was the B-Plot and got that cool, middle of the movie set piece in, I think it was Greece.

Never in a million years would I have thought Black Manta was cool, but that movie pulled it off, man.

[Andrew NDB]

Optimistically, Momoa has a lot of goodwill from fans, and he brings the women into the theaters demographically. Definitely there is cause for concern but it MIGHT be OK. Unless they start cutting new trailers talking about fascism or something.

[Coola Yagami]

Optimistically, Momoa has a lot of goodwill from fans, and he brings the women into the theaters demographically. Definitely there is cause for concern but it MIGHT be OK. Unless they start cutting new trailers talking about fascism or something.

I'm sure a lot of women would overlook that as long as Momoa is shirtless a lot in the rest of the trailer.

[Autbot_Benz]

FV3bqvOHRQo

[ZariusTwo]

Again, looks impressive, and the humour is complimentary to the action and drama and doesn't overtake anything.

[Autbot_Benz]

ya I think it looks fun too. not the dumpster fire some bloggers were crowing about

[ProphetofGanja]

OK this looks pretty fun, I may try to see it in the theater

[ZariusTwo]

More drama from the set has emerged in court documents acquired by Johnny Depp fans, revealing Jason Mamoa would turn up drunk to filming dressed as Amber's ex-husband and conspiring to have her removed, and almost succeeded had it not been for the threat of a lawsuit by Elon Musk

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/aquaman-2-jason-momoa-drunk-claims-amber-heard-cut-scenes-elon-musk-letter-1235747775/

[Autbot_Benz]

More drama from the set has emerged in court documents acquired by Johnny Depp fans, revealing Jason Mamoa would turn up drunk to filming dressed as Amber's ex-husband and conspiring to have her removed, and almost succeeded had it not been for the threat of a lawsuit by Elon Musk

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/aquaman-2-jason-momoa-drunk-claims-amber-heard-cut-scenes-elon-musk-letter-1235747775/

I don't believe anything Amber Turd says. Just flush her down the toilet already :roll:

[Andrew NDB]

20 scenes have been cut from the movie.

https://www.darkhorizons.com/aquaman-sequel-had-twenty-scenes-cut/

[ZariusTwo]

mRGMMd8eazw

[CyberCubed]

At least we can finally close the book on the Snyderverse for good with this movie. Hard to believe it really has been 10 years since Man of Steel came out in 2013. 10 years of this universe and its finally done.

[Sumac]

At least we can finally close the book on the Snyderverse for good with this movie. Hard to believe it really has been 10 years since Man of Steel came out in 2013. 10 years of this universe and its finally done.
10 years of edgy nonsense, promises and clumsy pivoting.

Its funny that all this real world stuff surrounding DCCU was more interesting than the movies. If WB had any brains in the collective heads, they would get rid of universe" crap ad just returned to making stand alone movies, especially with the fall of MCU.

[IMJ]

The killer is that after all of this drawn out nonsense and stalling, we COULD have still gotten the MoS sequel out there along with a truly great Batman movie.

But they took 400 years in between Wonder Woman movies to crap out 1984 instead.

[Andrew NDB]

At least we can finally close the book on the Snyderverse for good with this movie.

Not if it does good.

[IMJ]

Not if it does good.

I would say that given the state of things there is zero chance of this movie doing well at the theater. It might have had some excitement about it if there was no Amber Heard controversy.

The first one was solid, but it had the benefit of being the first movie to pull off an underwater superhero. So visually, it was something entirely new in many ways.

[Andrew NDB]

I would say that given the state of things there is zero chance of this movie doing well at the theater. It might have had some excitement about it if there was no Amber Heard controversy.

The first one was solid, but it had the benefit of being the first movie to pull off an underwater superhero. So visually, it was something entirely new in many ways.

It could very well tank to high heaven... but I wouldn't count it out just yet. Momoa really brought out female audiences and I think he can still command an overall audience since this is a "proven" franchise. That coupled with, well, there just plain not being very many movies at all coming out for a while, could be a big winner.

https://deadline.com/2018/12/aquaman-jason-momoa-marketing-won-women-over-1202525963/

[IMJ]

I'd be fine with it doing well to be honest. But I think these are examples of where the "shared universes" fail studios - audiences have a hard time taking a single movie on it's own merits now (which is weird), and if they feel like it's going nowhere, they don't want to get onboard.

But yeah, I could see women bringing their boys to the theater to see this one. I thought the first one was really good, but I only sat through it one time.

[TheCanadiandrome]

Women might bring their boys the theater strictly to fawn over Jason Mamoa lol

[ZariusTwo]

Some details from the fan screening premiere

-Amber still gets a decent amount of screentime as Mera, doesn't get involved in as much action though

-Black Manta is defeated fairly easily in the third act

-Nobody important dies, not even the baby

-Post-credits is Orm eating a burger with a cockroach inside of it

[MikeandRaph87]

Do you suppose the original cut had Arthur Jr. killed and this isa responsetonegativereactionsrelated to it? It would have gone against the tone of the film and probably determined if I overall would enjoy the film.

[MikeandRaph87]

The one thing that dependent on my rooting for or against Aquaman 2 was the fate of Aquababy. Since it appears to be answered I was hoping it join the only other Superhero film I was invested in, Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3 in being a success. This suggests it will go the way the other non-GotG have. :(
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/aquaman-2-opening-weekend-box-155257437.html

[Andrew NDB]

Seems pretty chickensh** if they reversed course on the death of the Aquababy. Black Manta killing Aquaman's son is a huge part of the comics that resonated for decades.

[IMJ]

So was Aquaman I a box office success because it was a solid movie as well as the first true ocean-superhero flick (a newish experience), or was it a success on "Superhero mania" and nothing more?

Because it was a solid enough movie to warrant a sequel on it's own merits. I've still only seen it one time, but it was good.

I'd say that the bottom is falling out on this one, not out of superhero fatigue, but the confluence of events between Amber Heard and the rejection of the Snyderverse as a whole.

My gut feeling on it is that this movie doesn't deserve this level of rejection purely on it's own merits.

[Andrew NDB]

but the confluence of events between Amber Heard and the rejection of the Snyderverse as a whole.

I don't think the moms that want to have sex with Jason Momoa are going to care about any of that stuff.

[IMJ]

I don't think the moms that want to have sex with Jason Momoa are going to care about any of that stuff.

:lol: Hopefully there are enough of those mom's as big spenders to sell some tickets!

[ZariusTwo]

The reviews are coming in now that it's been released and they are brutal

38% so far

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/aquaman_and_the_lost_kingdom

[IMJ]

The crazy thing is that it is inexplicable that it is that bad of a movie when the first one was so solid. Whereas "The Marvels" was the zenith of woke $#!( messaging as well as the movie quality, here you really only have Amber Heard as the poster child for liberal lies, complaining and manipulation to be rejected.

You'd imagine after the first that James Wan would have churned out a good movie!

[Andrew NDB]

I think it's a bit more comparable to Shazam 2. There was a lot of good will leftover from Shazam 1, which people seemed to like pretty well... but Shazam 2 just looked terrible, and nobody saw it (rightly so). And it wasn't even woke, unless you count them making up from thin air a bunch of strong womyn characters to be the bad guys.

[Sumac]

The reviews are coming in now that it's been released and they are brutal

38% so far

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/aquaman_and_the_lost_kingdom
LOL.
Hopefully trend will continue next year and those big studios will go bankrupt to clear the field for others...
Or they will be bought by bigger competitors, until we will have, like 1-2 super mega corporations controlling everything. Which is sadly more likely.

[sdp]

The message has been loud and clear for a long while now capeshit is dead to mainstream audiences.


You can only blame woke or the DCEU for so long. They're factors that definitely helped the decline but it was clear End Game was the end of superhero from casuals and it's casuals that got this movies made in the first place.

Yeah the big names will continue to make big bucks with casuals Iron Man 4 with RDJ would do big numbers. Avengers with the cast that casuals love would get them to return out of curiosity but none would reach the highs they've already reached. Spider-Man will do great numbers but even Spidey needed the previous actors returning gimmick to make the numbers the last movie did, without that it wouldn't have done as much.

You're still going to see at least one superhero movie from Marvel per year like in the 2000s but they're going to scale back heavily and you can bet the next two avengers movies are being retooled to get casuals to come back. Kang will be replaced by some ticket selling gimmick like Dr. Doom + RDJ returning or something like that. Those movies will do fine but gone are the days of multiple Marvel movies per year and people following it with enthusiasm like in the 2010s, it's a new decade now.

Oh but this is a DC Topic. Yeah DC will be like it was in the 2000s as well with only Batman every other year and an experimental movie with a hero from time to time. The Gunn universe experiment won't last long, especially not with all the debt WB Discovery has and the fact that it's not even a clean reboot, casuals will just think it's part of the same universe they already dislike. Superman will bomb since audiences don't connect with him and haven't since the Reeve's movies.
and we all know nobody cares about wonder woman

[Sumac]

If it seems Aquaman 2 will have a smaller opening than Marvels.
Its like DC in a completion with Marvel / Disney, who can make shittier movie this year.
Speaks a lot about state of Hollywood and capeshit.

[Andrew NDB]

Speaks a lot about state of Hollywood and capeshit.

I don't think it has anything to do with capeshit. Maybe general audiences let studios get away with a lot less now with superhero movies because they've been burned a lot lately (whether we're talking about fans getting the rug pulled out from under them with the DCEU, people tired of pandering or woke sh** in everything), but if something like Spider-Man 4 or Iron Man 4 dropped tomorrow, each would gross over a billion dollars almost sight unseen.

[Sumac]

I don't think it has anything to do with capeshit. Maybe general audiences let studios get away with a lot less now with superhero movies because they've been burned a lot lately (whether we're talking about fans getting the rug pulled out from under them with the DCEU, people tired of pandering or woke sh** in everything), but if something like Spider-Man 4 or Iron Man 4 dropped tomorrow, each would gross over a billion dollars almost sight unseen.
I don't mean it in as "superhero fatigue", though its seemingly here, but as in people have less and less trust in superhero movies after failure after failure. Not necessarily superhero genre as a whole.

[CyberCubed]

Wasn't Guardians of the Galaxy 3 the only succesful superhero film this year? And it doubles as a sci-fi film, so it's not even really a superhero franchise since it has more in common with sci-fi films instead.

Shazam 2 bombed, Ant-Man 3 bombed, Flash Bombed, The Marvels Bombed, Blue Beetle Bombed, Aquaman 2 bombed, etc.

[TheCanadiandrome]

Wasn't Guardians of the Galaxy 3 the only succesful superhero film this year? And it doubles as a sci-fi film, so it's not even really a superhero franchise since it has more in common with sci-fi films instead.

Shazam 2 bombed, Ant-Man 3 bombed, Flash Bombed, The Marvels Bombed, Blue Beetle Bombed, Aquaman 2 bombed, etc.
yeh pretty much

[Andrew NDB]

Ant-Man 3 didn't bomb, it just came way under expectations.

[Sumac]

Ant-Man 3 didn't bomb, it just came way under expectations.
Which means it bombed by normal MCU standards.

[Xav]

Ant-Man 3 didn't bomb, it just came way under expectations.It failed to break even what would you call it?

[ZariusTwo]

Audience score is in the high 77%, this despite even the usual DC shills not even liking it.

[MikeandRaph87]

I wonder, the forgetting Orm is evil and decreasing role of Mera, did Patrick Wilson largely replace what Amber Beard'sMera should have been apart of?

[Andrew NDB]

I don't think it has anything to do with capeshit. Maybe general audiences let studios get away with a lot less now with superhero movies because they've been burned a lot lately (whether we're talking about fans getting the rug pulled out from under them with the DCEU, people tired of pandering or woke sh** in everything), but if something like Spider-Man 4 or Iron Man 4 dropped tomorrow, each would gross over a billion dollars almost sight unseen.

It failed to break even

Incorrect.

[Xav]

It reportedly needed $600 million to break even it grossed $476.1 million how is that not a failure?

[Andrew NDB]

It reportedly needed $600 million to break even

Reportedly by whom? Even if we were to assume the marketing budget was approaching what the production budget was (200M) it still would have roughly broken even or made some small pittance.

People say "that bombed!" to me means wow, what a black eye that movie was for the people who funded it because it lost a ton of money! Which would be like The Marvels which, to date, hasn't even made its production budget back INTERNATIONALLY, to say nothing of whatever the marketing budget was on top of it. We can say Ant-Man 3 was a misfire or underperformed but I don't think it's in the same category.

[Sumac]

People say "that bombed!" to me means wow, what a black eye that movie was for the people who funded it because it lost a ton of money! Which would be like The Marvels which, to date, hasn't even made its production budget back INTERNATIONALLY, to say nothing of whatever the marketing budget was on top of it. We can say Ant-Man 3 was a misfire or underperformed but I don't think it's in the same category.
Given Disney expectations, I'd say there is no different between "underperformed" and "bombed".

[TheCanadiandrome]

It’s still a good thing I don’t give two flying f**ks what other people think and can use my own brain and make up my own mind on movies that I want to see. Just because someone says something’s crap or isn’t doesn’t mean jack sh*t to me

[Xav]

Reportedly by whom?By Variety.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/ant-man-3-box-office-flop-marvel-disney-1235564875/

[MikeandRaph87]

I saw it and really enjoyed it. I may prefer the first film, but it's a fun action adventure film that is much better than any Superhero fare out there because it's not woke just digging into Aquaman lore and delivering a film on the level for comic fans and general audience alike.

[IMJ]

I saw it and really enjoyed it. I may prefer the first film, but it's a fun action adventure film that is much better than any Superhero fare out there because it's not woke just digging into Aquaman lore and delivering a film on the level for comic fans and general audience alike.

I think the lack of interest is a little related to Amber Hurd and largely related to the impending reboot of the entire DCU. Seems like audiences now need the connectivity instead of being able to take a movie on it's own merits.

[Andrew NDB]

I saw Aquaman 2. Damn. That was not a good movie, by any stretch of the imagination. This was a brain-dead script with back-to-back contrivances and cardboard characters. Black Manta's arc is that he was possessed for the whole movie, basically? With his big black submarine where a captain pilots it with a big wheel (huh?) and he has his big throne. It's all just really dumb and surface level nothing. We want to melt all the polar icecaps to do what, exactly? I also don't think the rumors about an earlier version of the movie having Aquaman's baby getting killed were true now. The movie just isn't built to have that make any sense or carry any weight. Unless it was like, Black Manta originally killed him at the lighthouse and, like, took some blood with him and then they did reshoots with Randall Park and the baby in the ice kingdom, but even then it wouldn't "boost" anything beyond making Aquaman much more enraged in going after Black Manta, which they didn't do.

I can definitely see where they potentially trimmed Mera's material but I don't think they were too drastic. Like, it would have been a couple lines here, a couple lines there, and she was definitely more in the opening that they definitely reedited to be a narrated montage. I don't think what they cut would have helped much.

I think the lack of interest is a little related to Amber Hurd and largely related to the impending reboot of the entire DCU. Seems like audiences now need the connectivity instead of being able to take a movie on it's own merits.

Which is why Captain Marvel 1 was such a success. Marvel and the lefties took note and went, "Ahh, nice! The female audience we've been hoping for has materialized at last!" (which probably opened the gates for a lot of Marvel's recent flops) when that was never the case. It was largely just people wanting to see clues to what might be in the next Avengers movie, or just to be introduced to a character who might have a key role in Endgame.

[Coola Yagami]

Which is why Captain Marvel 1 was such a success. Marvel and the lefties took note and went, "Ahh, nice! The female audience we've been hoping for has materialized at last!" (which probably opened the gates for a lot of Marvel's recent flops) when that was never the case. It was largely just people wanting to see clues to what might be in the next Avengers movie, or just to be introduced to a character who might have a key role in Endgame.

Exactly, people forget not only were people hoping fir End Game clues, Infinity War literally ended with Fury dropping a device that had her symbol on it. Of course people were going to see the movie.

[Andrew NDB]

I think with Wonder Woman, there WAS a good degree of "Wow, yes! Let's get a good, strong woman-led superhero movie and support this!" But also, Gal Gadot is not Brie Larson. Gal Gadot is a smiling, beautiful and powerful woman who loves her fans and you can see she is having fun with everything and super appreciated she's able to do what she does. Brie Larson is the polar opposite of all of those things and everyone knows it (mostly because she can't stop telling us). But yeah, lucky Brie Larson. If Blue Beetle was part of the MCU and that movie was between Infinity War and Endgame and Nick Fury was, like, dropping a blue scarab at the end of Infinity War... you can bet your ass Blue Beetle would have been a billion+ dollar movie. And then Marvel would have been dredging the barrels to find or race swap Hispanic characters for future stuff.

[neatoman]

Does this mean the DCEU really does end with Orm eating a cockroach burger?

[Andrew NDB]

Does this mean the DCEU really does end with Orm eating a cockroach burger?

Yes. Though... I wouldn't be surprised if Jason Momoa shows up as a somewhat different Aquaman in the Gunn-verse. Maybe with short hair. And no solo movies. And at the very least we know everyone in Peacemaker season 1 is still in, somehow, which means Suicide Squad 1 and 2 are somehow still in the mix. If Aquaman 2 had done crazy money there might be entirely different conversations happening behind the scenes but as is, there just really isn't any good reason for keeping THIS Aquaman around.

[IMJ]

Which is why Captain Marvel 1 was such a success. Marvel and the lefties took note and went, "Ahh, nice! The female audience we've been hoping for has materialized at last!" (which probably opened the gates for a lot of Marvel's recent flops) when that was never the case. It was largely just people wanting to see clues to what might be in the next Avengers movie, or just to be introduced to a character who might have a key role in Endgame.

Exactly true. And they still don't want to admit it - if there is any degree for argument, even if it is only 1 degree past "obvious" they will argue for their agenda. Because they are the life-angry. So they feel any assault in their favor is some kind of victory against the normalcy they despise.

Nobody wanted Captain Marvel from the get-go. Carol Danvers hasn't even remotely been a solid character even in the books past 2010 when she had a series that lasted even 50 issues (an absolute record for the character in-print).

I think people were anticipating Wonder Woman though and the first movie was very solid. Not as great as memory would have us serve though - I just think it was a valid movie on it's own merits and because it didn't jump on the "woke $#!(" bandwagon it seemed like a greater movie than it was. But it's a solid flick.

[Andrew NDB]

You know, wouldn't it be neat if we could at least just see the Keaton and Affleck material? We know the show is over. Just give it to us. You paid a lot of money for it. At least let it be seen. And it's probably very small anyway.

[Sumac]

I don't see how or why they do it.
Especially "why": those are pieces of the "old" universe, they are no longer relevant and might confuse people. WB doesn't need another "release Snyder cut" right now (or ever). So its better to keep their cards close to their chest, so to speak.

[Andrew NDB]

I guess like, just release it online. With whatever verbiage context they want to add simultaneously. Because who cares now.

[sdp]

I mean audiences are already going to be confused since The Suicide Squad is going to be in continuity with the new DCU as well as the old one so it doesn't matter. Too bad the days of DVD deleted scenes craze of the 2000s is gone since it'd be great to see all the different cut scenes from ALL their DCEU movies. I'm pretty sure most have had heavy rewrites and filmed more stuff later on. I'm sure those will eventually come out but not likely in 10 years or so, when it's seen as a "past" mistake and won't hurt the company to admit the mistake anymore.

[IMJ]

If the could somehow just crap out one more Snyderverse flick it should be the Affleck bat-flick.

[ZariusTwo]

In something of a positive for the movie and for DC's fortunes, Lost Kingdom has officially passed $400 million globally at the box office, making it the most profitable DC film since the original Aquaman in 2018

https://comicbook.com/movies/news/dc-aquaman-2-box-office-400-million-dc-extended-universe-2018/

[sdp]

I watched both Aquaman movies, I left them towards the end because I really wasn't looking forward to them:

1: surprised me by how entertaining it was. Jason Momoa is a good gritty Aquaman but a bad lighter one, he doesn't fit the character well. Black mantha was great. I loved the power rangers looking storm trooper putties, I loved the scenery, the colors, everything felt fresh, the two villain set up was handled well. Super impressed.

2: starts of a bit boring, but it's not that bad, the newness is just not there anymore and the story is not as good. Not ri mention they have less if the trippy neon visuals that made the original fun. but there's some good scenes, especially with Black mantha and Ocean Master been if it's a retread.

We need a blonde short haired Aquaman for the DCU that can keep the mood lighter. It's a shame Momoa's Aquaman never lost a hand, it would've been shocking and fit his grittier Aquaman very well.

[Andrew NDB]

I think what Aquaman 2 proved was that everything we thought worked great in Aquaman 1 was either a happy accident, super forced and manufactured, or just some kind of a fluke. Nobody made it out of that 2nd movie looking good, or without damage. And they waited way too long between sequels and everything gained with Mera in part 1 was totally abandoned. The "emotional tether" was broken.

[IMJ]

I think what Aquaman 2 proved was that everything we thought worked great in Aquaman 1 was either a happy accident, super forced and manufactured, or just some kind of a fluke. Nobody made it out of that 2nd movie looking good, or without damage. And they waited way too long between sequels and everything gained with Mera in part 1 was totally abandoned. The "emotional tether" was broken.

The first one had the benefit of being "something new" in the superhero space. And of course DC got it out before Marvel put NAH-more! on film, so Aquaman had the inertia.

Also the first one I think came out while Amber Heard was still eyecandy in a push-up swimsuit before she was a crazy bed-$#!((er, so there was that.