Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them started a whole new chapter in the Wizarding World created by J.K Rowling. Now, as the second film gets underway, we've learned a bit more about what it will actually be about. Specifically, we know why Newt Scamander will continue to be part of the story, considering he's successfully recaptured all of his fantastic beasts.
At the end of the previous film we saw Gellert Grindelwald being taken into the custody of America's Magical Congress, however, as you might have guessed, he won't be there for long. New details revealed on Pottermore specifically explain that as the sequel opens Grindelwald will escape, forcing one Albus Dumbledore to get involved in the efforts for his recapture. Looking for help, Dumbledore will turn to a former student who we know Dumbledore thinks quite highly of, Newt Scamander. The young Dumbledore will be played by Jude Law. Scamander, in turn, will get help from the returning Queenie and Tina Goldstein as well as his no-maj friend Jacob Kowalski.
While these details explain how Newt Scamander will become part of the sequel, it doesn't explain quite why Albus Dumbledore thinks that Newt Scamander is the person to help him recapture Grindelwald. True, Scamander has first-hand experience as he was there the last time, but hunting down evil wizards isn't really Newt's professional focus. Also, we have a confirmation that the character of Jacob Kowalski will be back, even though his only memories of the events of the first movie take the form of slightly odd-looking pastries.
We can also expect a collection of new characters on both sides of the wizarding divide. Gellert Grindelwald has apparently been busy building his followers, so we can likely expect to meet a few of them in the new movie. The Fantastic Beasts sequel will also see Zoe Kravitz appear as Leta Lestrange, after her "cameo" in the first film, inside a photograph.
The last piece of interesting information included in the Pottermore details is that it specifically makes reference to the fact that the sequel is untitled. It's never referred to here as Fantastic Beasts 2 just the sequel in the Fantastic Beasts series. It makes sense that the new movie would be called something else, as we're guessing the beasts themselves won't be taking center stage this time around, though at this point we have no idea what the movie will actually be called.
Principal photography officially begins today with an eye toward a November 16, 2018 release date. With filming underway new details will likely start to make their way to us. Three more movies will follow this one so we're not in danger of being without the Wizarding World for quite some time.
