Fantastic Beasts 2 director has a confusing answer for Dumbledore’s sexuality

Director David Yates confirmed that Dumbledore will not be an out gay men in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

The Fantastic Beasts movies have not been without controversies. What with the casting of Johnny Depp despite abuse allegations against him and now concern over how people of color are being portrayed in the universe (especially with the case of Nagini), there’s been a lot of concern among fans.

Fans have also been worried about how the series will address Dumbledore’s sexuality. In 2007, JK Rowling revealed that Albus Dumbledore was gay and that he was in love with Gellert Grindelwald. Since these two will feature heavily in the next Fantastic Beasts movies, fans were expecting to see this storyline addressed in the films.

However, according to Express, director David Yates has now confirmed in an interview with Empire that Dumbledore, played by Jude Law in the series, is not openly gay at this time, explicitly saying, “Dumbledore is not out as a gay man in this film.”

He went on to add that his sequels will be explored more in later sequels:

"This part of this huge narrative that Jo is creating doesn’t focus on his sexuality, but we’re not airbrushing or hiding it…The story [of the romantic relationship] isn’t there in this particular movie but it’s clear in what you see… that he is gay."

We aren’t sure what that is supposed to mean exactly. If he’s not explicitly gay in the film, will the movie just be using subtext and queerbaiting? Or is the series going to actually build on the story and explore Dumbledore’s sexuality in a meaningful way?

Yates did continue by saying that they will explore the relationship eventually:

"A couple of scenes we shot are very sensual moments of him and the young Grindelwald. I think people just have to wait and see and appreciate that in movies to come that relationship with be explored much more fully."

Many fans have been concerned that the films will erase Dumbledore’s sexuality completely or handle the subject matter poorly. It would be strange if the movies didn’t explore this relationship at all since there are literally going to be five movies.

We really hope that Yates and others making the film come through and handle the subject matter in a progressive way.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be released in theaters in the U.S. on Nov. 16.