Fantastic Beasts 2: What we know
To mark exactly 365 days until its release, the name of the Fantastic Beasts sequel has been announced.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be the second in a five-part saga based on Eddie Redmayne’s magical zoologist Newt Scamander. From the title, we can assume that the plot will focus on the first movie’s antagonist Gellert Grindelwald, who, after two and a half hours of being played perfectly by Colin Farrell, turned out to be an incredibly hammy Johnny Depp.
But, whilst we know from the Harry Potter series that Grindelwald is an appalling pureblood supremacist, the crimes referred to in the title aren’t massively clear. Will the film mark the start of his quest for the Greater Good? Or with young Dumbledore in the picture, will there be a reckoning for what happened in Godric’s Hollow, with the death of Ariana?
As The Guardian points out, Depp appears to be holding the all-powerful Elder Wand in a new cast photo released to accompany the title news, so whatever is going to happen, it’s likely he’s going to do well for now.
Young Dumblelaw
The new photo has also given us our first look at Jude Law’s Albus Dumbledore. The jury has been pretty much out on Law so far, as he didn’t seem like the most obvious choice, but this has put paid to that because, quite frankly, he looks perfect.
Okay, he could be a little more ginger, but perhaps that’s personal preference.
It’s Law’s casting that makes Depp’s look so dire, and worrisome actually. Dumbledore is 45 in 1926 and since this film is set only a few months later in 1927, Law’s casting is age appropriate. Depp, on the other hand, is not. He’s ten years older than Law and looks it.
Harry Potter fans, correct me if I’m wrong, but Grindelwald and Dumbledore are meant to be roughly the same age when they meet (and, according to J.K. Rowling, fall in love, at least on Dumbledore’s part) in Godric’s Hollow as teenagers.
With Grindelwald now apparently a decade older than Dumbledore, it adds a new ominous dimension to their relationship. And in the context of Grindelwald’s relationship with Credence, things are verging on the predatory, which is not great. We have to hope Rowling addresses this in the film, because either he’s meant to be a predator or this film is making very bad insinuations by accident. We hope it’s the former.
Still, on the lighter side of things, Law has absolutely got the Dumbledore stare down. We can hope for good things from him at least.
We’re still annoyed about Johnny Depp
The new image also showed that Grindelwald’s look hasn’t changed since we saw him arrested at the end of the last movie, meaning presumably that this is his true self. I am begging Warner Bros. to reconsider.
Many, many articles have been written about Grindelwald being a wizard parallel to Hitler (especially given they are both defeated in 1945), so why are we getting this terrible Goldmember impression instead? Surely, he should be a politically shrewd leader with a terrifying agenda as opposed to a white haired contact-wearing madman who may as well have “I am evil” tattooed across his forehead.
Fantastic newbies and where to find them
The continued frustration with Johnny Depp is not the only thing the cast picture has given us. We’ve also got our first look at Newt’s older brother, Theseus (who knew?), who is now engaged to Newt’s long lost love interest Leta Lestrange, played by Zoe Kravitz.
Theseus is a war hero (J.K. Rowling giving us more tidbits on what wizards did during the First World War there) and an Auror, but judging from his arrogant glare, we can assume he’s not quite as soft as our favorite Hufflepuff, Newt.
The cast image also shows Ezra Miller is reprising his role as Credence, with his fate left hanging in the balance at the end of the first film. He appears to have a friend in this new picture, however, played by Claudia Kim.
The name of her character is unknown, but according to the film’s summary, she is a Maledictus, “the carrier of a blood curse that destines her ultimately to transform into a beast.” She looks somewhat nicer than Credence — whose cheekbones could cut glass, such is the severity of his scowl — but her proximity to him means perhaps she won’t be as neutral as she looks.
In happier news, the Goldstein sisters are both back, with Auror life clearly suiting Tina, who looks amazingly witchy with her sleek bob and dark lipstick. Queenie looks as adorable as ever and most notably, she’s sitting next to Jacob, whose memory of her had been wiped last time we saw him.
Queenie and Jacob’s relationship was one of the most charming parts about the first Fantastic Beasts movie, and if the way they are sitting together is anything to go by, we can at least hope for their love to be rekindled.
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All in all, Fantastic Beasts has given us quite a lot to work with for the foreseeable future and we’ll be sure to plumb this new information for more hidden depths until the trailer drops. For now, we can only pray that Johnny Depp isn’t as awful as we think he’s going to be.