Nicholas Hoult
I feel like Fantastic Beasts would do quite well to have a similar tone as X-Men: First Class. That film breathed life into a franchise that was sputtering by making it fun and enjoyable to watch. While most wouldn’t say Harry Potter was sputtering, the last few films certainly weren’t on the cheery side. You know, the whole impending doom of all humankind thing. We don’t need something that dark in this film. Keep it light, full of awesome monsters, and fun to watch.
If they do opt for that tone, who better to lead it there than the young Beast himself, Nicholas Hoult? Hoult’s a skilled actor who’s shined in an array of roles, and even some that were viewed as uh, less than excellent, still show how he could be successful as Newt. Look at Jack The Giant Slayer. The guy is slaying giants. There you go. Not going to find many actors who’ve dealt with something that close to dragons in a blockbuster (unless you go with Jay Baruchel, but let’s keep things realistic here).
Really though, his turn as Beast shows how much better he’d do in this role than any other. Beast is an innovative and motivated man, especially in his younger days. The younger Beast, before he became reserved and responsible, is the sort of character who would become headmaster of Hogwarts for a short time and then move onto something else (and come back to haunt it later on). But it’s Beast’s scholarly abilities that really show how well he could do as Newt. The studious nature is essential for someone to become headmaster of Hogwarts. There’s no question that Hoult will thrive in the role, merely from looking at his talent alone, but hopefully his past roles will be enough proof for Warner Bros. to have confidence in him.
