Amber Heard was almost removed from Aquaman 2 before Jason Momoa and director James Wan fought to keep her on.

During the high-profile Johnny Depp libel case, entertainment consultant Katherine Arnold (via The Wrap) testified that Heard was almost booted from the Aquaman sequel due to negative publicity surrounding the case.

“In February 2021, there were conversations that Amber’s, I’m going to be technical with you, her option for employment was not going to be exercised. So, they may not have hired her again,” Arnold said. “Her management team fought very hard, and they ultimately ended up hiring her, but not only because of what her management did, but also because star Jason Momoa and director James Wan committed to her.”

Heard previously claimed that her Aquaman 2 role was “pared down” following her split with Johnny Depp.

According to Arnold, Warner Bros. was ready to fire Heard from the upcoming sequel to shed any negative publicity associated with the ongoing case.

However, Warner Bros. chief Walter Hamada said that’s not the case.

“They didn’t have a lot of chemistry together,” Hamada said as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. “The reality is it’s not uncommon on movies for two leads to not have chemistry and it’s sort of movie magic and editorial — the ability to put performances with the magic of a great score and how you put the pieces together, you can fabricate that chemistry.”

Hamada claims that this lack of chemistry is what led Warner Bros. to consider booting Heard.

“At the end of the day when you watch the movie, it looks like they have great chemistry,” he explained. “But I just know that through the course of postproduction, it took a lot of effort to get there. Sometimes you just put characters together on the screen and they work. It’s like what makes a movie star a movie star. You know it when you see it. The chemistry wasn’t there… This one was more difficult because of lack of chemistry between the two.”

Asked directly if Heard’s role was ever “reduced,” Hamada confirmed that it wasn’t.

He explained that the upcoming sequel was always conceived as a “buddy comedy” between Aquaman and his half-brother, King Orm, played by Patrick Wilson. And it had been that way “from the very early stages of development”.

Aquaman 2 stars Jason Momoa as DC’s underwater superhero alongside Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren, and Jani Zhao.

James Wan directed the film based on a script by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

It looks as though The Boys could get its own cinematic universe with upcoming spin-offs.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, creator Eric Kripke revealed that Amazon has some further spin-offs in the works.

“We have a couple more scripts [for shows] that we're in various stages of talking about,” he revealed. However, he also clarified: “I don't think we're going to rush it. I think we want to build it slowly.”

The Boys was a huge hit for Amazon when it debuted back in July 2019.

The series stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capon, and Karen Fukuhara as The Boys – a group of non-powered vigilantes who take on corrupt superhumans, exposing who they really are.

Season 2 debuted back in 2020, and IGN’s own review said: “The Boys Season 2 continues its excellent form of balancing its comedy, over-the-top violence, and character development into a cohesive force of awesomeness. While a few lackluster storylines never get resolved, there are plenty of meaningful moments sprinkled throughout. Homelander and Stormfront's palpable chemistry, mixed with Billy Butcher's humanizing character development, demonstrate how effective showrunner Eric Kripke and his team are at crafting an engaging story that has plenty of stylized drama and shocking surprises, but also tons of heart.”

Season 3 is already on its way and introduces a bunch of new supes.

But there was also talk of a spin-off series, which currently remains untitled, focussing on college-age supes as they learn their new profession.

Set to star Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Shane Paul McGhie, Aimee Carrero, and Maddie Phillips as young superheroes, the show will expand the Vought universe considerably.

But it’s unknown what other ideas Kripke has in mind.

The Boys returns for Season 3 on June 3, 2022, and stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Anthony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Nathan Mitchell, and Chace Crawford.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

It looks as though The Boys could get its own cinematic universe with upcoming spin-offs.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, creator Eric Kripke revealed that Amazon has some further spin-offs in the works.

“We have a couple more scripts [for shows] that we're in various stages of talking about,” he revealed. However, he also clarified: “I don't think we're going to rush it. I think we want to build it slowly.”

The Boys was a huge hit for Amazon when it debuted back in July 2019.

The series stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capon, and Karen Fukuhara as The Boys – a group of non-powered vigilantes who take on corrupt superhumans, exposing who they really are.

Season 2 debuted back in 2020, and IGN’s own review said: “The Boys Season 2 continues its excellent form of balancing its comedy, over-the-top violence, and character development into a cohesive force of awesomeness. While a few lackluster storylines never get resolved, there are plenty of meaningful moments sprinkled throughout. Homelander and Stormfront's palpable chemistry, mixed with Billy Butcher's humanizing character development, demonstrate how effective showrunner Eric Kripke and his team are at crafting an engaging story that has plenty of stylized drama and shocking surprises, but also tons of heart.”

Season 3 is already on its way and introduces a bunch of new supes.

But there was also talk of a spin-off series, which currently remains untitled, focussing on college-age supes as they learn their new profession.

Set to star Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Shane Paul McGhie, Aimee Carrero, and Maddie Phillips as young superheroes, the show will expand the Vought universe considerably.

But it’s unknown what other ideas Kripke has in mind.

The Boys returns for Season 3 on June 3, 2022, and stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Anthony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Nathan Mitchell, and Chace Crawford.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Despite a fulfilling start to the year for the games industry, none of the top played games during 2022’s Q1 were released this year.

Today, NPD’s Executive Director and Video Game Industry Advisor Mat Piscatella shared stats from The NPD Group's PlayerPulse. The list, which chronologically ranks the top 10 most played games during 2022’s Q1, sees games as old as 2009’s Minecraft and 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V still standing as player favorites.

Here are the top 10 most played games of Q1 2022 in the U.S. ranked by year of initial release. (Source: The NPD Group's PlayerPulse)

Half of the top 10 weren't launched this decade. Elden Ring ranked 20th. Ahead of it were games like Rocket League, World of Warcraft and Skyrim. pic.twitter.com/eWXKVMFHZj

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) May 24, 2022

Piscatella pointed out that half of the games that made the list were launched before the 2020s. Most notably, Elden Ring, which we gave a 10 and quickly became the best-selling game of the past year, ranked 20th and fell short to older games like Rocket League and World of Warcraft.

Piscatella accredited the game’s surprisingly low placement to the success of evergreen and live service games, calling them “gravity wells for player attention, time and spending.” Q1 is typically defined as the period from January to the end of March, so Elden Ring would also have only been released for one month.

Piscatella expanded on this thread by stating that more AAA games should seek the help of services like Game Pass and the new PlayStation Plus, saying he believes these plans can help “get games funded, released, and to help them break through the barriers of the big evergreen titles.”

While this list doesn’t feature any 2022 games, the year is still looking to be a great year for gaming, with plenty of releases already receiving excellent ratings from IGN and many more titles on their way.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

Despite a fulfilling start to the year for the games industry, none of the top played games during 2022’s Q1 were released this year.

Today, NPD’s Executive Director and Video Game Industry Advisor Mat Piscatella shared stats from The NPD Group's PlayerPulse. The list, which chronologically ranks the top 10 most played games during 2022’s Q1, sees games as old as 2009’s Minecraft and 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V still standing as player favorites.

Here are the top 10 most played games of Q1 2022 in the U.S. ranked by year of initial release. (Source: The NPD Group's PlayerPulse)

Half of the top 10 weren't launched this decade. Elden Ring ranked 20th. Ahead of it were games like Rocket League, World of Warcraft and Skyrim. pic.twitter.com/eWXKVMFHZj

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) May 24, 2022

Piscatella pointed out that half of the games that made the list were launched before the 2020s. Most notably, Elden Ring, which we gave a 10 and quickly became the best-selling game of the past year, ranked 20th and fell short to older games like Rocket League and World of Warcraft.

Piscatella accredited the game’s surprisingly low placement to the success of evergreen and live service games, calling them “gravity wells for player attention, time and spending.” Q1 is typically defined as the period from January to the end of March, so Elden Ring would also have only been released for one month.

Piscatella expanded on this thread by stating that more AAA games should seek the help of services like Game Pass and the new PlayStation Plus, saying he believes these plans can help “get games funded, released, and to help them break through the barriers of the big evergreen titles.”

While this list doesn’t feature any 2022 games, the year is still looking to be a great year for gaming, with plenty of releases already receiving excellent ratings from IGN and many more titles on their way.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

Another A-list actor has joined the cast of the upcoming animated Garfield movie as Samuel L. Jackson is on board to play Garfield's father, Vic.

Jackson will lend his voice to Vic, a brand new character in the Garfield universe, as we've never seen Garfield's father appear in the comic strip or in previous movies.

Jackson will join Chris Pratt, as Garfield takes another shot at the big screen after two poorly received movies starring Bill Murray. The iconic orange cat is originally from Jim Davis' comic strip that began in 1978. The comics follow Garfield's mission to be as lazy as possible, while living alongside his owner, Jon, and Jon's dog, Odie.

Pratt will voice the iconic Monday-hating, lasagna-loving cat, which was announced late last year. We learned of Pratt's casting just weeks after learning the actor would also play Mario in Illumination and Nintendo's upcoming Super Mario movie.

The Garfield movie's script was written by David Reynolds, who previously worked on Finding Nemo. Mark Dindal, who has worked on Chicken Little and Emperor's New Groove, is set to direct. Sony Pictures will distribute the movie.

For more, check out the internet's reactions to when Pratt's casting as Garfield was announced.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Another A-list actor has joined the cast of the upcoming animated Garfield movie as Samuel L. Jackson is on board to play Garfield's father, Vic.

Jackson will lend his voice to Vic, a brand new character in the Garfield universe, as we've never seen Garfield's father appear in the comic strip or in previous movies.

Jackson will join Chris Pratt, as Garfield takes another shot at the big screen after two poorly received movies starring Bill Murray. The iconic orange cat is originally from Jim Davis' comic strip that began in 1978. The comics follow Garfield's mission to be as lazy as possible, while living alongside his owner, Jon, and Jon's dog, Odie.

Pratt will voice the iconic Monday-hating, lasagna-loving cat, which was announced late last year. We learned of Pratt's casting just weeks after learning the actor would also play Mario in Illumination and Nintendo's upcoming Super Mario movie.

The Garfield movie's script was written by David Reynolds, who previously worked on Finding Nemo. Mark Dindal, who has worked on Chicken Little and Emperor's New Groove, is set to direct. Sony Pictures will distribute the movie.

For more, check out the internet's reactions to when Pratt's casting as Garfield was announced.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

As the creator of The Mandalorian and the voice of two different Mandalorian characters, Jon Favreau has certainly left an important mark on the Star Wars franchise. But as we all know, you haven't truly hit the big time until your face appears on a Star Wars figure. Luckily, Favreau is finally crossing that item off his bucket list at Star Wars Celebration 2022.

Hasbro will be offering a Jon Favreau figure as a Celebration-exclusive release during the convention. And yes, the figure is officially labeled "Jon Favreau" despite wearing the costume of Favreau's character, Paz Vizsla.

IGN can exclusively reveal the first images and details for the Favreau figure. Get a closer look in the slideshow gallery below:

Jon Favreau is part of Hasbro's Star Wars: The Black Series line of six-inch figures. The figure includes Vizsla's helmet, jetpack and blaster cannon, along with deluxe packaging that matches Hasbro's previous Black Series convention exclusives.

The Jon Favreau figure looks to be a companion of sorts to last year's Trapper Wolf figure. Though that toy wasn't specifically marketed as a Dave Filoni figure, it does feature the likeness of Favreau's The Mandalorian collaborator, who occasionally plays the New Republic pilot in the series. Previously, Hasbro released Star Wars figures depicting George Lucas as a Stromtrooper and concept artist Ralph McQuarrie as "General McQuarrie."

The Jon Favreau figure is priced at $39.99 and is slated for release in Fall 2022. Initially, he'll only be available to preorder for Celebration attendees. Hasbro will be giving out one-time codes at their booth (#2404) that can be scanned and used to order the figure on Hasbro Pulse. Afterward, limited quantities of the figure will be made available for general preorder.

Will you be adding a miniature Jon Favreau to your Star Wars collection? What other Star Wars filmmakers deserve their own action figures? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

In other Star Wars news, Marvel Comics is adapting the first season of The Mandalorian, and Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy revealed the franchise is now focused on "persistent storytelling, not trilogies."

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

As the creator of The Mandalorian and the voice of two different Mandalorian characters, Jon Favreau has certainly left an important mark on the Star Wars franchise. But as we all know, you haven't truly hit the big time until your face appears on a Star Wars figure. Luckily, Favreau is finally crossing that item off his bucket list at Star Wars Celebration 2022.

Hasbro will be offering a Jon Favreau figure as a Celebration-exclusive release during the convention. And yes, the figure is officially labeled "Jon Favreau" despite wearing the costume of Favreau's character, Paz Vizsla.

IGN can exclusively reveal the first images and details for the Favreau figure. Get a closer look in the slideshow gallery below:

Jon Favreau is part of Hasbro's Star Wars: The Black Series line of six-inch figures. The figure includes Vizsla's helmet, jetpack and blaster cannon, along with deluxe packaging that matches Hasbro's previous Black Series convention exclusives.

The Jon Favreau figure looks to be a companion of sorts to last year's Trapper Wolf figure. Though that toy wasn't specifically marketed as a Dave Filoni figure, it does feature the likeness of Favreau's The Mandalorian collaborator, who occasionally plays the New Republic pilot in the series. Previously, Hasbro released Star Wars figures depicting George Lucas as a Stromtrooper and concept artist Ralph McQuarrie as "General McQuarrie."

The Jon Favreau figure is priced at $39.99 and is slated for release in Fall 2022. Initially, he'll only be available to preorder for Celebration attendees. Hasbro will be giving out one-time codes at their booth (#2404) that can be scanned and used to order the figure on Hasbro Pulse. Afterward, limited quantities of the figure will be made available for general preorder.

Will you be adding a miniature Jon Favreau to your Star Wars collection? What other Star Wars filmmakers deserve their own action figures? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

In other Star Wars news, Marvel Comics is adapting the first season of The Mandalorian, and Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy revealed the franchise is now focused on "persistent storytelling, not trilogies."

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

If you're a regular IGN reader, when I write the words "Cyberpunk yellow", you can almost certainly picture the neon shade I'm referring to. From its earliest days, CD Projekt Red used a particular yellow in everything from artwork to announcements. Eventually, it even became a warning sign for fans, after multiple delay announcements used the colour as a backdrop.

Speaking at Polish games conference Digital Dragons, Cyberpunk lead environment artist Michał Janiszewski brought that fact up in a lecture, using a section of his talk to answer the question, "Why Is Everything So Yellow?" In essence, the fact that so many people can recall that shade proves that the team did their job right.

Early in the talk Janiszewski brought up the glass Coca-Cola bottle as a key piece of industrial design history – you can recognise it by its shape, design, the font, and the colour. CD Projekt was aiming for something similar: "We were speaking about the Coca-Cola," said Janiszewski. "The yellow colour is pretty much the same thing. It is conveying the information, it is simple to remember."

However, it wasn't simply a case of making a colour (and an accompanying design) that you'd remember – it was also an attempt to make Cyberpunk feel different from existing icons in its genre. Janiszewski made clear that the likes of Blade Runner and Judge Dredd were inspirations for Cyberpunk 2077, but the team worked from the beginning to feel distinct from them, as opposed to an impression of them.

'Cyberpunk yellow' became a part of that effort on the branding side: "Most people, when they are thinking about cyberpunk, it is like a red colour, a bit of blue," said Janiszewski, "but we wanted to have something new, something fresh; that’s why we picked the yellow colour. It is new, it is like 'California style'."

Speaking to me later, fellow lead environment artist Kacper Niepokólczycki said there had been a "very long conversation" about creating that iconic brand identity for the game. While it was less prevalent inside the game itself, the team did seek to represent that yellow in Night City too:

"You can see [it in] clothes lining. It is there. And even districts – like for example, the City Center has this yellow colour everywhere, it's the main colour from this district. Yeah, we definitely took it over wherever we could. But it was mostly first of all to figure out I think our identity as a colour – and then we took it over and injected it wherever we could."

For the art team, perhaps the best marker of how successful the Cyberpunk yellow experiment had been was when other companies started using it themselves:

"In Poland, there were companies trying to use the colour," Niepokólczycki says. "I remember there were food adverts here on bus stations and mobile phones that used the colour to grab your attention. They literally used the colour because they noticed how powerful it can be. Here in Poland, Cyberpunk at one point was crazy, posters everywhere – and people just [stole] the colour and used it for their own sake."

It's likely not the last we've seen of that particular shade. We're expecting the game's first expansion in 2023, and we know the developer has plans for the Cyberpunk franchise beyond this first game – Cyberpunk yellow is almost certain to return to help make you aware of those projects.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.