With Warner Bros. asking Johnny Depp to step down from the role of Grindelwald in ‘The Fantastic Beasts’ series and with him departing without much fuss (in online media presence at least), we can’t help but wonder, what is next for the Harry Potter spin-off film franchise?
Depp was asked to leave by WB because he lost a libel case against the tabloid newspaper, the Sun (regarding a 2018 article that labelled Depp a “wifebeater”). Depp is planning for an appeal, but WB seems to have made up their mind and has decided to recast the veteran actor and is looking for another suitable (and hopefully) “old-hand” to tackle the role of the primary villain of the film series.
With the removal of Depp, there will be reshoots needed for the third part of the franchise and the production house has announced that the release date of the film has been pushed from November 2021 to the summer of 2022. No exact has been confirmed. This will be the second push from its previous release date of November 20th 2020; which initially got delayed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. We don’t want to speculate on the replacement actor yet, out of respect for Depp, the people involved and the current situation. So instead of the replacement speculation, let’s talk about how the franchise could address this change.
Of course the most likely scenario is that there won’t be any change except for a change in actor. Similar to how Ed Skrein was replaced by Michiel Huisman to portray Daario Naharis in ‘Game of Thrones’, we will probably see “no explanation” on-screen and the film series will go as is.
But since the character of Grindelwald has been known to take on different forms, (for undercover purposes in the films) this change in actor could be explained away as such, which would be a note of acknowledgement to Depp. Or (to the canon fans mainly), the replacement actor would be “placeholder actor” for Depp in the film series while he fights his legal battle. If he eventually succeeds in the UK libel case, there could be a chance he could come back for the other films in the series, at least for a cameo (wishful thinking for some).
But one thing is for certain, Depp is leaving behind a very distinct and controversial character (among fans and critics), and the actor replacing him has big shoes to fill. Depending on the actor, the talent and the new charisma brought on for the role, this could very well decide the fate of ‘The Fantastic Beasts’ series (Hopefully this could be an exaggeration, but after the previous film’s reception – it might not be).
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