"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" recently premiered, and so far, it has seen generally positive reviews, successfully launching a brand new series in the "Harry Potter" universe. Four more sequels are being planned, and it has now been confirmed that actor Johnny Depp was cast to play the villainous wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
Given that the films are prequels set decades before the main "Harry Potter" movies, it would make sense for Grindelwald to be in his youth in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2" and its follow-up films.
These films would then reveal how Grindelwald became known as the second most evil wizard in history, with power second only to Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). He was portrayed as a young student in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" by Jamie Campbell Bower and later as an aged prisoner by Michael Byrne.
Director David Yates made the announcement on The Leaky Cauldron website. Author J.K. Rowling later praised the casting choice, stating in an interview with MTV that he was the ideal choice given how Depp is known for fully immersing himself into a character.
"Watching him create a character is fascinating, It's been quite inspiring to me as the writer. I feel he's got quite an interesting approach to creating a character," Rowling explained. "It's very similar to the way Eddie Redmayne works and moves around and inhabits the character of Newt. The physicality is exactly right," she went on to say.
In the books, it was revealed that Grindelwald was one of the most powerful evil wizards and once held possession of the Elder Wand, one of the three Deathly Hallows. He was then defeated by a young Dumbledore, who took his wand. Grindelwald was then imprisoned in Azkaban. In the books, Voldemort murdered him to find the location of the Elder Wand, but in the films, he was spared.
No release date has been announced for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2."
