According to an interview with James Wan, the director of Aquaman and AM2:
"The official cast of Aquaman 2 hasn’t been revealed however, nonetheless, we do know that Jason Momoa will reprise his place of Arthur Curry / Aquaman. Other than him, Patrick Wilson who carried out the place of Orm Marius / Ocean Grasp (Arthur’s half-brother and former king of Atlantis) will even make his return, and in response to him, ‘Wan’s concepts for Aquaman 2 are pushing it even extra.’ Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has moreover confirmed his return and whereas others are however to be revealed, we anticipate to see Willem Dafoe, Amber Heard, and Nicole Kidman once more in movement as properly."
Anticipated. Not confirmed.
While WB might never make an official statement that Heard has been bought out and dropped from the film, there are a LOT of clues that hint at it, from a statement on court that Heard was SUPPOSED to be in AM2 to this, a statement from the film's director that doesn't confirm that she's in it.
The biggest clue of all might come from her countersuit against Johnny Depp, wherein she claims to have lost a total of $100 million in salary and damages because of him. The only major payday she had on the line was Aquaman. So she's saying she lost Aquaman 2 because of Johnny Depp, right?
Aquaman 2 is due to be released on 16th December 2022. We might have to wait until then for proof that she's not in the film.
What do you think? Will it take the film coming out without her in it before you believe that she's out? Or are the clues enough? Me, I believe that she's out because I believe the sources that say so - and no, I won't name them, so don't ask. They're insiders in the industry, and haven't been wrong yet.
If only they could CGI her out of the first one, I'd be able to enjoy it.