Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the upcoming second installment of the Harry Potter sequel/prequel series, will move the story forward in some major ways. As the title reveals, it will feature Johnny Depp’s master villain in a more prominent role, with Jude Law also joining the cast as a young Dumbledore.
With more characters and bigger threats taking over, it looked like the first part of the title might be left behind a little. While talking to EW, however, Eddie Redmayne was on hand to assure fans that there are still many “fantastic beasts” set to star in the movie. The actor – who plays magizoologist Newt Scamander – teased a few of the creatures we can expect to see, including a couple of “old favourites.”
“There’s a Chinese creature that’s formidable. There are some of the old favorites: The Niffler is back and causing havoc. As is Pickett.”
If you can’t remember the names, the Niffler is a mole-like creature with a liking for shiny things that escaped from Scamander’s magical suitcase and into New York in the first film. Pickett, meanwhile, is a cute little critter called a Bowtruckle, which resemble tiny twigs with eyes.
Though these creatures will still litter the sequel, Redmayne did clarify that they wouldn’t be the driving force of the plot as much as they were last time around. In fact, he went as far as to say they are “not a central part” of the narrative.
“There are as many beasts in the film as in the first. But the main driver in the first film was finding the beasts. That’s not the driver in this film, it’s not a central part of the plot. But beasts feature in the film and feature strongly.”
This only makes sense, plot-wise. With Dumbledore and Grindelwald coming to the fore, Fantastic Beasts 2 will no doubt explore the wider conflict ravaging the Wizarding World and get caught up in the age-old battle between good and evil. Newt’s creatures, though, should still add a welcome bit of light relief and comedy to the proceedings.
Be sure to catch Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald when it apparates its way into cinemas on November 16th, 2018.
