Everything We Know About Fantastic Beasts 2

Fantastic Beasts 2 has just started filming, ready for release in November, 2018. With a screenplay once again penned by J.K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts 2 will follow on from the successful return to her wizarding world that we saw in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

With the continuation of the Fantastic Beasts moniker (the movie's subtitle has yet to be revealed, if it has one) you could be forgiven for thinking the second of this five-movie arc will focus on Newt Scamander and his magical creatures once again, but in fact, the plot takes us into a much darker era altogether. Here's everything we know about the second Harry Potter prequel (so far).

Newt Scamander Does Return

Newt Scamander stands in the streets of New York in Fantastic Beasts

Yes, Newt is back, though perhaps not in a particularly central role. Essentially, Fantastic Beasts 2 will focus on the continued rise of Grindelwald (more on him in a moment), and not on Newt's adventures. However, Eddie Redmayne will return as the lovable, quiet magizoologist. At the end of Fantastic Beasts, he was leaving New York and his newfound love, Tina (Katherine Waterston). When the sequel picks up, he's back in England and his book has been published. Presumably he's still locating and documenting beasts of a magical and fantastical nature, but he's going to need to take a break, because an old friend needs to call in a favor... and who can ever refuse the call of Albus Dumbledore?

Jude Law Makes His Fantastic Beasts Debut

Cast as the young Dumbledore, Jude Law will join an extraordinarily long list of British stars who have appeared in Rowling's Wizarding World in some form or other. So far we know that Newt Scamander was expelled from Hogwarts and that Dumbledore (who was not headmaster at the time) fought for him to stay. The reason for his expulsion was that an experiment he was working on went wrong, and harmed a student, but Dumbledore would probably not have fought his corner if he felt Newt was at fault. There must be some reason why and how Newt is still able to practice magic after his expulsion, so the bond between the two men must be strong despite the age gap. With Newt back on British soil, we should get to find out more about the relationship, and Dumbledore must respect Newt's abilities because he's asked for his help to track down...

Grindelwald

Briefly seen in Fantastic Beasts, Johnny Depp returns as Grindelwald, the dark wizard who was captured by MACUSA, with help from Newt Scamander. He has now somehow escaped their clutches and is making his way across Europe, recruiting followers. Clearly, this is a worry; we've already seen what a dark wizard can do when Voldemort was around, but Grindelwald is the one who started it all. He's very bitter towards Dumbledore, as well. The pair had been great friends, but fell out after a duel went wrong and resulted in the tragic death of Dumbledore's sister. This sent Dumbledore into a state of grief and guilt during which he tried to stay away from the old conflict, but eventually Grindelwald's thirst for dark magic and the Deathly Hallows became too great to ignore, and Dumbledore more or less made it his personal mission to bring Grindelwald down. Eventually, at the end of the five movie arc, we will almost certainly see the infamous duel between these two great wizards that has become part of Harry Potter lore, and resulted in Dumbledore taking possession of the Elder Wand - one of the Deathly Hallows.

We'll Get to Properly Meet Leta Lestrange

Fantastic Beasts Leta Lestrange- Zoe Kravitz

Zoë Kravitz technically made her debut as Leta Lestrange in the first Fantastic Beasts movie, but she was merely seen as a moving picture. There's clearly a history between her and Newt Scamander: they're old schoolfriends, and perhaps more than that. What's almost certain, though, is that Leta was working with Newt at Hogwarts when their experiment went wrong, and it's possible that Newt took the fall for her. Take note of the surname, too - the Lestrange family were notorious Death Eaters, and Bellatrix married into that family. It's possible that Leta is not a pleasant person, and her betrayal could be the reason for Newt's obvious discomfort and upset when Queenie mentions her in Fantastic Beasts. Speaking of Queenie....

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Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) and Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) in Fantastic Beasts

Some Fan Favorites Return

Namely Tina, Queenie, and Jacob, which will make most Fantastic Beasts fans very happy indeed. Easily one of the highlights of the first movie was the sweet little romance between Jacob and Queenie, and her total infatuation with him. Even after he'd had his memory wiped, she continued to visit his bakery, just to check on him. We don't exactly know how, but Jacob finds himself back in the world of magic once again when Newt needs help from his old friends and love interest. Easily the best No-Maj that ever there was, we're very pleased to see Dan Fogler reprising his role opposite Alison Sudol as Queenie. Things should move along for Newt and Tina, too, who are destined to marry and have children (their grandson eventually marries Luna Lovegood).

We're Going to the Circus

This is a little bit random, but no doubt Rowling will weave it all together in that wonderful way she has. Listed among the new cast members when the synopsis was released, is Claudia Kim (pictured above in Avengers: Age of Ultron) as "a young woman we first meet as a featured attraction at a wizarding circus." Added to that, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson joins the cast as Skender, who runs said circus. So far, no Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts movie has ever made reference to a circus, and it's not even something we can say we've ever thought of existing. What kind of fantastic beasts would reside in a circus? And what powers does Kim's character possess to be a "featured attraction," considering everyone's magical already? The mind boggles. Nothing is known of this circus, and whether its members help or hinder Dumbledore and Newt, but we'll find out in due course.

We'll Meet the Family

Newt Scamander's family, that is. Callum Turner (Assassin's Creed) has been cast as Theseus Scamander, Newt's older brother. He is a powerful Auror and famed war hero after fighting alongside Muggles in the First World War. According to Harry Potter canon, Theseus is extremely highly regarded, and was in communication with Percival Graves over the capture of Grindelwald. In fact, he became assigned to the case by the Ministry of Magic, so there could well be some clashes between him and Dumbledore, who is likely to want to do things his way. As well as all this, Theseus is said to disapprove of Newt's chosen career as a Magizoologist. However, Harry Potter canon also says the pair are relatively close. Reading between the lines, we could possibly see a lot of tension between the two that will eventually be resolved.

Location, Location, Location

Three of them, to be precise. While Harry Potter was centered on the U.K., Fantastic Beasts took us to 1920s New York, giving us MACUSA instead of the Ministry of Magic and No-Maj's instead of Muggles. Fantastic Beasts 2 will move between New York, Paris, and London, giving us our first proper look at European wizarding ways. While French wizards featured in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we've yet to see an entire French community of wizards. Moreover, how will the Parisians refer to their non-magical counterparts? We need to know. The European focus makes sense since that's where Grindelwald assembled most of his supporters. The New York setting makes sense given that it's where Queenie, Tina and Jacob are based, and London... does that mean we might see Hogwarts again? Okay, it's not in London, but still, Rowling has teased that Fantastic Beasts 2 will contain Harry Potter references that will delight fans, and there's been a casting call for teenage Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Newt and Leta. We can but hope.

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Seraphina Picquery as the head of Macusa in Fantastic Beasts

Is There a New Head of MACUSA?

It's possible that Seraphina Piquery is no longer head of MACUSA. Really, you can't stay in a job like that when the darkest wizard of all time has been operating under your nose the entire time, but she does have a fabulous dress sense and Carmen Ejogo is perfect in the role, so hopefully she will stay in place. However, we do know that Kevin Guthrie is back as Mr. Abernathy, and this time he's listed as Tina and Queenie's boss at MACUSA. In Fantastic Beasts, he played Queenie's boss, and she excused herself as being sick to him. The fact that Guthrie's name and character is listed in the press release seems to hint at him having a larger role this time around, so is he about to step up and become the leader of MACUSA?

Fewer Beasts?

demiguise fantastic beasts and where to find them

Honestly, we hope not. One of the highlights of Fantastic Beasts was meeting all the magical creatures that Newt encountered. The adorable Bowtruckle, the Demiguise with its purse and, of course, the now infamous Niffler all gave Fantastic Beasts a lot of its humor and charm. Given that this second movie still holds the precursor in the title, one would hope that there will still be beasts of some description, but the story is undeniably moving away from Newt and his pets, and into a much darker realm. Rowling ignores them at her peril, though. Too much focus on the Grindelwald/ Dumbledore story and Fantastic Beasts runs the risk of being Harry Potter all over again, whereas Newt with his magical case gave us something different. Plus, we just really want the Niffler back.

Credence Barebone Returns

Ezra Miller in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Not a spoiler, since Ezra Miller's return to the Fantastic Beasts franchise was already known. It's surprising the character of Credence actually can return in any capacity, given that he was obliterated by almost all of MACUSA's top witches and wizards. Still, a tiny piece of the obscurus floated away and this was enough, apparently, for Credence to reform. A cut scene from the end of Fantastic Beasts showed Credence leaving New York by boat. Far more likely, though, would be Credence returning in a barely human form. The spells fired at him would have undoubtedly weakened him considerably, and with Fantastic Beasts 2 picking up only a few months after the first, Credence should be in a fairly bad way. Having spent so long grooming the boy, Grindelwald will be anxious to get his hands back on the unharnessed dark magic that resides within Credence and, sadly, he's so damaged by his mother and so desperate to be loved that he'll probably let Grindelwald take complete control.

Will Dumbledore be Openly Gay?

The big question, and the one to which we don't know the answer, and most likely won't until the movie is released. Rowling has stated several times that the character of Dumbledore was gay, but this was never addressed explicitly in either the Harry Potter books or movies. Rowling has also said that he was in love with his dear friend, Grindelwald, but that the missed opportunity was Dumbledore's "great tragedy." While it's been hinted that Fantastic Beasts 2 might explore Dumbledore's sexuality in some way, many are hoping it's not just a token reference or one little scene. This is Warner Bros.' chance to really set the stage for a major character in a leading franchise to be openly and honestly gay, and not just a little bit camp, or someone who infers his sexuality through the odd veiled comment. Let Dumbledore be true to the character Rowling wants him to be, and fans could end up being very happy with the outcome.