Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sought to completely set itself apart from the Harry Potter film series, with the fresh setting of New York City in the '20s, and plenty of new character introductions. But Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will tread into some much more familiar territory, as the second installment will feature both a middle-aged Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, and the franchise's return to Hogwarts. The Fantastic Beasts cast were quite excited to venture to the school of witchcraft and wizardry for the upcoming film, including Law, who explained just how magical it was to find himself part of the franchise. In his words:
It was a slightly odd, out-of-body experience because I've watched with everyone else those [magic] classes. Suddenly to be in it, you're in there doing it but then you look back on it as yourself and realize how special it was.
This comes to us from a new Warner Bros. Pictures featurette featuring the cast, crew and J.K. Rowling herself showing their enthusiasm for Hogwart's role in the upcoming sequel, and fans also can't wait to travel with Newt Scamander back to the beloved setting. While director David Yates previously revealed that the new film will only take audiences back for a short time, for many fans, seeing Hogwarts again onscreen is going to feel like coming back home. Newt is a past student who seems to have had similar tendencies to that of Harry Potter and his friends, and Dumbledore was one of his professors. Newt was expelled at Hogwarts for "endangering human life", and while Dumbledore tried to revoke the expulsion, he was unsuccessful. Take a look at the exciting return to Hogwarts below:
The main course of Crimes of Grindelwald is learning more about Dumbledore's past through the relationship between him and his past student, Newt Scamander, who he enlists to find Gellert Grindelwald, played by Johnny Depp. At the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Grindelwald was captured by the Magical Congress, in The Crimes of Grindelwald, but it seems he escapes custody-- and gathers followers for his villainous agenda against muggles. Dumbledore must see something particular in Newt that he feels is needed to foil Grindelwald, something that he doesn't possess himself. Eddie Redmayne previously said that he thinks his character's unique empathy for people is one of his greatest skill sets, which his professor likely noticed.
While the new world introduced in Fantastic Beasts was dazzling, we can't wait to see a bit of nostalgia in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald as Hogwarts is brought back to the screen once again, and we get to see Jude Law's take on Dumbledore. The sequel will be released on November 16, 2018.
