Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2 Will Feature Dumbledore After All

Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a character that holds tremendous grandeur throughout the Harry Potter saga. He’s the wise, old father figure to our Boy Who Lived, essentially, and will forever be considered one of J.K. Rowling’s greatest characters – half-moon spectacles and all.

Imagine our excitement, then, now that David Yates has confirmed Dumbledore will have a role in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2. Word comes by way of Screen Rant, where the director announced that the all-powerful wizard will have a part to play in the 2018 sequel, one which has already cast Johnny Depp in an undisclosed role.

What’s interesting is that, according to pre-emptive rumors, Depp was cast as Gellert Grindelwald, “a dark wizard who was once a friend of Dumbledore’s.” The jury’s still out on that one, but now that Dumbledore has been confirmed, it does fuel speculation.

No word yet on who will portray the younger Dumbledore – remember, Fantastic Beasts takes place in the 1920s, and considering the great wizard didn’t become Hogwarts headmaster until the late ’50s, it lends both David Yates and Warner Bros. some creative leeway going into the sequel. Richard Harris originally portrayed Dumbledore across both Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, before sadly passing away. That left the door open for Michael Gambon, who carried the part all the way through to the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2010.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will jump-start a whole new franchise at Warner Bros. come November 18. It’ll be followed in quick succession by a direct sequel – one starring Johnny Depp – in 2018, and a further three movies after that.