Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore will be Mads Mikkelsen’s debut as Gellert Grindelwald, and the second trailer for the movie shows that he’s already a better Grindelwald than Johnny Depp. Although the Harry Potter saga came to an end in 2011, it wasn’t the end of the Wizarding World, as it continues to be explored through other works, such as the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the movie series Fantastic Beasts, this one separate from the story of the boy who lived and Lord Voldemort.
Based on the 2001 guidebook of the same name by J.K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in 2016, and it’s set many, many years before Harry Potter was even born. Directed by David Yates, Fantastic Beasts introduced viewers to magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), who is planning a major war against Muggles. The success of Fantastic Beasts made way for two sequels – Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the latter with important changes to the main cast.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore will see Mads Mikkelsen taking Johnny Depp’s place as Gellert Grindelwald, in a story that will see Dumbledore, Scamander, and company coming face to face with Grindelwald and his army, all this while leading up to the Wizarding World's involvement in World War II. Grindelwald was recast due to Depp being involved in a lot of controversy due to his personal life during pre-production of Fantastic Beasts 3, and while not much of Mikkelsen’s performance has been shown, the footage that has been featured in the trailer has proven that he will be a better Grindelwald than Depp, as he has channeled the threatening essence of the character a lot better and is also physically different.
Gellert Grindelwald was the darkest wizard in the Wizarding World prior to the rise of Lord Voldemort, and he had plans to lead a Wizarding revolution to end the International Statute of Secrecy, creating a global hierarchical order led by wizards and witches to dominate Muggles. Grindelwald is the second darkest and most dangerous wizard the Wizarding World has seen (second only to Voldemort), and judging by the trailers for Fantastic Beasts 3, Mikkelsen is fully portraying that menacing, dangerous essence that makes Grindelwald a wizard to fear, and it helps that he already has a reputation as an actor who often portrays villainous and ambiguous characters. Although Johnny Depp is a popular actor, his performance as Grindelwald has been criticized by fans as many feel he doesn’t fit the character (though some blame Rowling’s writing for that) while others deeply dislike the look he was given. Mikkelsen’s Grindelwald has also been given a new look, without the white hair and one blind eye, allowing him to rely more on personality and behavior than his look to be the villain of the story.
Of course, there’s a lot more to see and learn about Mads Mikkelsen’s version of Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, but so far, it’s clear that it will be very different from Johnny Depp’s and most likely better and more convincing. Gellert Grindelwald is a complex character, so it’s going to be interesting to see what else Mikkelsen brings to it and how it will compare to Johnny Depp’s vision and version of this dark wizard.
