Whennews brokethatJohnny Deppwas set to “co-star” inFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2, the sequel to this month’s wizarding world expansionFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, speculation immediately zeroed in on who Depp might play. Given that Gellert Grindelwald, former friend/crush of Albus Dumbledore, supposedly has a major role to play in this newFantastic Beastsfranchise, folks began wondering if Depp might be bringing the dark wizard to life. Well, yes, it’s true: Johnny Depp is playing Gellert Grindelwald.
The news was confirmed by directorDavid Yateshimself, who directed the final fourHarry Potterfilms as well asFantastic Beastsand is returning for the sequel. In speaking withThe Leaky Cauldron, he revealed why they chose Depp to fill such a pivotal role:
“The whole principal of casting the movie was go with the best actor. Go for the most inspired, interesting, right fit for that character. And as we approached Grindelwald we thought, ‘Who’s going to take this in an interesting direction?’ In this business, it’s a weird old business. You’re brilliant one week, people are saying odd things the next, you go up and down. But no one takes away your pure talent. Johnny Depp is a real artist. He’s created several characters who have really resonated in our popular culture. He’s a really brilliant, brilliant actor. We were excited about seeing what he would do with this guy, the character. He’s fearless; he’s imaginative; he’s ambitious. We thought he would do something fun and special. So we went for him, purely on that selfish basis. We don’t care if he’s famous or not famous. We just know he’s interesting.”
So there you have it: Johnny Depp is playing one of the most iconic characters inHarry Potterhistory. Grindelwald will have a cameo inFantastic Beastsas the character has recently gone missing from Europe after reigning terror with the Elder Wand. We know he’s eventually captured and, while in prison as an older man, murdered by Voldemort when quizzed about the whereabouts of the Elder Wand. But in thisFantastic Beastsuniverse, it appears we’ll be seeing Grindelwald at the height of his power.
I’ll be honest: I’m really not crazy about this casting. The casting for all of thePotterfilms was incredible, and the same team is onboard thisFantastic Beastsfranchise (including screenwriterJ.K. Rowling), but Depp has a tendency to get overwhelmed by his colorful characters, resulting in something more akin to a caricature than a realistic, empathetic character (see:Alice in Wonderland,Yoga Hosers, etc.). I have great trust in thisFantastic Beaststeam, but this casting really gives me pause.
We also know they’rebeginning a casting search for a young Dumbledore(well young-ish) to appear inFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2, but Yates and producerDavid Heymanwere tight-lipped about that as the process is ongoing. Theydidreveal thatFantastic Beasts 2will return the wizarding world action to Europe after the America-set first film:
“We do go back to the U.K. in the second film as well–it’s U.K. and Paris. I’m not sure where Jo is setting the rest of the movies, but they’ll be European-centric. I think it will be difficult to ignore America, but the next one is predominately Europe.”
And finally, Yates teased thatEzra Miller’s character Credence plays a pivotal role in the follow-up:
“Credence, we follow Credence further. He becomes quite pivotal actually, Credence is quite crucial.”
Early word onFantastic Beastsseems to be quite positive, which is a good thing seeing as how Rowling has alreadymapped this out as a five-film franchise. Audiences at large get to see the first installment when it hits theaters on November 18th, but rest assured there’s plenty more to come with Johnny Depp as our Big Bad.
