Spoiler Warning: This is all about the ending of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. You have been warned!
The ending of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has got people talking. Whether it's from those who were genuinely surprised by the twists, or those who were frustrated by it, the final moments of the film have been a big point of conversation. Eddie Redmayne, who stars in the movie as Newt Scamander, falls into the camp of people who were shocked by the conclusion, as the actor recounts when he first read it in the script.
I mean, I found out when I read the script. I've been asked about this, but when I read it, it was genuinely jaw-dropping for me. It was one of those scripts that you finished. You read in one, and then you started rereading all over again. The connections and the complexities, and just, it felt sort of, even more full each time you read it. I'm curious as to, I've only seen the film once, but I wonder how it plays when you see it again, and whether there are always new things that you can pull out from it.
And here come the spoilers! The Crimes of Grindelwald makes a big deal out of learning Credence Barebone's true lineage. The powerful Obscurial wants to know who his family is, and joins forces with Grindelwald because he claims to know the truth. At the end of the movie, Grindelwald reveals to Credence that his real name is Aurelius Dumbledore, and it's heavily implied that he is Albus Dumbledore's brother.
Now, this raises a whole bunch of questions and complications that Harry Potter fans have raised over how this conflicts with the established lore. Grindelwald could be lying, but at the moment, we have to take it at face value. Credence is a Dumbledore, and he's on a collision course with Albus.
Despite the issues that this raises, it's still a surprising development, and Eddie Redmayne couldn't believe it when he first read the script. Redmayne told Collider that it's one of those twists that add to the story when you watch it over again. Redmayne is excited to find out what happens next, and it'll be interesting to see where this new twist takes the story.
Some fans aren't quite as enthusiastic as Redmayne is about the ending. I would argue that the movie doesn't put in the work to make this reveal as exciting or shocking as it thinks it is. Credence, the character the whole plot revolves around, isn't in the movie much-- and he doesn't have a ton to do when on screen.
One could argue that these Fantastic Beasts movies will play better when watched as a whole, but we won't know that until the other three release. At the moment, you can catch Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in theaters now.
