EW has shared a new image from Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which teases the return of Eddie Redmayne’s eccentric magizoologist Newt Scamander for his second outing. The snap sees the animal lover climbing out of his TARDIS-sized suitcase, apparently arriving in what looks to be some sort of wizarding shop, going by the potions brewing on the tabletop behind him.
Redmayne also dished some new details on the sequel while chatting with the outlet. Among other things, he called Crimes “darker and more rigorous” than the original and teased that it’ll have more connections to the wider Wizarding world established in the Harry Potter franchise. The British star said: “When I read [the script] it had these cryptic elements to it and it played like a thriller that made it a page-turner.”
Most interestingly, Redmayne was able to provide the premise of the movie, too. From what we understand, Newt’s thrown back into action when his old Hogwarts professor, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), hires him to track down the titular dark wizard Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), who’s apparently escaped following his capture at the end of the first film. He’s wasted no time in amassing his followers, either, and reigniting his movement to rise up against mugglekind.
“What’s happened is Grindelwald’s belief that purebloods should reign over all non-magical beings is a political thing. He’s rallying more and more people and it causes divisions across families. He’s pretty hypnotic.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will differ from its predecessor by moving away from New York and being set in Paris instead. As well as featuring the introduction of Dumbledore and the rise of Grindelwald, Newt’s backstory will be explored via the arrival of his older brother Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner) and his fiancee Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz), who just happens to be Newt’s old girlfriend.
Familiar stars Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, as well as franchise newcomer Claudia Kim, are also set to return, and you can catch the sequel when it apparates into theaters on November 16th.
