Whenever a studio or production company makes a decision that the fans don’t like, you can guarantee a petition will be launched almost as soon as the news reaches the internet. But as much as people would like to believe that they’ve got some sort of influence over the decision making process and their voices will be heard, their efforts are almost always completely ignored.
The Snyder Cut of Justice League may have been born from a two and a half year fan campaign, but Warner Bros. also had a brand new streaming service to shill and needed something that would generate massive buzz and draw in potential subscribers. Petitions have also been launched in the wake of every major Netflix cancellation this year, but the company have absolutely no intention of changing their minds in regards to any of the content that was pulled from the platform.
Almost inevitably, once it was confirmed that Warner Bros. had essentially pushed Johnny Depp out of the door and forced him to resign from Fantastic Beasts 3, a campaign to have him reinstated began gathering momentum. The petition already has over 14,000 signatures at the time of writing, but despite fans continuing to back the actor following his recent personal troubles, the studio have already confirmed that the role of Grindelwald will be recast.
The revelations stemming from Johnny Depp‘s legal battles opposite ex-wife Amber Heard have forced Warner Bros.’ hand, and they don’t want any sort of negative publicity affecting Fantastic Beasts 3, which is easily the make or break installment in the Wizarding World prequel series. Clearly, they feel like they’re in a much better position without him, but given the continued fan support, we’ll see if their decision winds up being vindicated when the movie arrives in the summer of 2022.