When Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens later this month, it’ll kick off a five film series for Warner Bros. That’s a lot of magic to look forward to, and while the verdict is still out on if the Harry Potter spinoff can match the success of the original franchise, early buzz seems to be pretty positive.
So, it’s no surprise then that the filmmakers are already starting to chat up the sequel. We’ve heard that Johnny Depp has signed on for a lead role and we also know that a younger version of Dumbledore will appear. The actor playing him remains a mystery, but author J.K. Rowling did drop a very intriguing tidbit recently during a press conference for Fantastic Beasts.
Speaking about Dumbledore’s role in the next instalment of the series, she said the following:
You’ll see him as a younger man and quite a troubled man. We’ll see him at that formative period of his life. As far as his sexuality is concerned … watch this space.
Back in 2007, Rowling actually revealed that the character was gay, though it was never mentioned in the novels or films. Apparently, back when he was younger he had a “tumultuous relationship” with Gellert Grindelwald, the character that Depp is playing in the sequel.
From the sounds of Rowling’s comments, it looks like the films will explore that to some degree. How deep they’ll dive into the relationship remains to be seen, but with four more movies at their disposal, you can expect Dumbledore’s early years to be fleshed out properly across the new series.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will kick off a whole new era of magic for Warner Bros. when it opens later this month, on November 18th.
