I promise I wasn’t planning on writing about Harry Potter again, certainly not this soon, not the same week. But then this happened, and I just couldn’t not write about this! The title of the second Fantastic Beasts movie has been released: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The movie is officially set for release on the 16th of November 2018. This is how they announced it online:
This video (and the accompanying Pottermore page) already tells us a lot! Let’s take a closer look at the characters that we now know will be in the movie (from left to right):
- First up is Jude Law, playing a young Albus Dumbledore, as we already knew. He used to be close friends with Grindelwald, but they parted ways after a duel that killed Dumbledore’s sister. They have spent many years apart, but this movie will see Dumbledore having to step in and stop Grindelwald.
- Next to him is Ezra Miller, who plays a returning Credence. Obviously, Credence didn’t die at the end of the movie, as was suggested when his Obscurus basically blew up. There are no indications as to how he survived, all we get is that he comes back “in a mysterious way”.
- The woman cuddling Credence, is Maledictus, played by Claudia Kim. We don’t know much about her, what we do know refers to mythology: apparently, a maledictus is a person whose blood was cursed to make them turn into a beast. So I’m guessing that is why she feels close to Credence, as they’re both outsiders?
- Then in the middle of the picture, we see another couple. The woman is Zoe Krävitz, playing Leta Lestrange. From the first film, we know that she used to be close with Newt when they were at Hogwarts. But her experiments with a Jarvey went wrong and put another student in danger. Newt took the blame, leading to his expulsion. And now? Now she’s apparently engaged… to Newt’s older brother Theseus!
- That is who we see in the middle, next to Leta: Theseus Scamander, played by Callum Turner. He fought in the first World War, making him a hero, and is now the Head of the Auror Office at the British Ministry of Magic.
- Behind Theseus is, of course, Tina Goldstein, still played by Katherine Waterston. As the movie starts, she is working as an Auror for MACUSA again. By the way, according to the Harry Potter Wikia, Tina is still alive today: she is currently 116 years old, living in Dorset.
- And next to Tina is our favourite: Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander. Since the last movie, he has published his book and become quite famous in the wizarding world because of it. This is, of course, the same book that Harry Potter buys in his first year: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
- Then there is the muggle Jacob Kowalski, portrayed by Dan Fogler. His memory was wiped in the first film, but at the very end we saw him in his bakery and he seemed to recognize Queenie (which makes sense since the rain only deleted bad memories).
- He is sitting behind Tina’s younger sister Queenie Goldstein, Alison Sudol in real life. She is a Legilimens meaning she can read minds and she’s in love with Jacob. We don’t know anything yet about her role in the second film.
- And finally, all the way to the right, there’s Johnny Depp who portrays Gellert Grindelwald. He was captured in the first film, but apparently, he has escaped MACUSA custody and is busy recruiting followers for his wizarding domination ideas. By the way, if you want to know more about him, Pottermore has described everything we know about him so far here. By the way, look closely at his hands! See what wand he is holding? Yes, the Elder Wand is now in Grindelwald’s possession!
From this article, we already got a first description of the plot:
Grindelwald has made a dramatic escape from MACUSA custody. The villainous Grindelwald has been busy gathering more followers to his cause – elevating wizards above all non-magical beings. The only one who might be able to stop him is the wizard he once called his dearest friend, Albus Dumbledore. But Dumbledore will need help from the wizard who had thwarted Grindelwald once before, his former student Newt Scamander.
From Pottermore, we know that the second film is set in 1927, a few months after the conclusion of the first which saw Newt leaving New York on a boat set for Europe. Warner Bros. has revealed that the movie will play out in New York, London and Paris. And this Pottermore article, a collection of everything we know so far about the movie, also tells us a lot. Apparently Newt’s book is going really well, as he is having book parties left and right! And… another piece of big news: Nicolas Flamel will play his part in the movie as well! He is being portrayed by Brontis Jodorowsky but we don’t know yet in what capacity. Ah, and Pottermore also tells us how Maledictus fits into things: she is apparently an attraction in the wizarding circus that is in the movie. More news: we will also be seeing younger, teenage versions of some of the key characters, including Newt, Leta, Dumbledore and Grindelwald. My personal guess? (I hope) we will see Newt and Leta at Hogwarts, and we will find out why Newt was expelled and what happened between the two of them. As for the other two, we’ll probably see memories of them when they were best friends? Also, how cool would it be to see their duel that led to Dumbledore’s sister’s death?
Aaaaaaaah, I can’t wait for this movie! Of course, I will be following along as more details are revealed and share them here. If you don’t want spoilers, don’t read the articles!
Happy reading,
Loes M.
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