An army of Johnny Depp fans have absolutely no interest in Fantastic Beasts 3 now that their hero isn’t involved after being asked to resign from the role of Gellert Grindelwald, but those not swept up in the continued online campaigns trying to salvage the fallen actor’s name and reputation seem to be firmly in agreement that as far as replacements go, Mads Mikkelsen is about as good as it gets.
The 55 year-old initially denied he was set to replace Depp before being confirmed as the Wizarding World’s greatest threat less than a week later, and while a lot of the former Pirates of the Caribbean star’s supporters will never reconcile themselves with the fact that he’s no longer part of the Fantastic Beasts series, Mikkelsen has been launched into the deep end anyway, having boarded the cast months after shooting started.
In a recent interview, the Hannibal actor broke his silence on stepping into Depp’s shoes as the nefarious wizard, and he admitted the difficulty of the situation, while also explaining how he plans to put his own spin on the character.
“Well it’s going to be me, so that’s a difference. No, this is the tricky part. We’re still working it out. There has to be a bridge between what Johnny did and what I’m going to do. And at the same time, I also have to make it my own. But also we have to find a few links and some bridges so it doesn’t completely detach from what he’s already masterfully achieved.”
There’s no denying that Mikkelsen is a talented guy, but for a lot of people, the shadow of Johnny Depp will always loom over Fantastic Beasts 3, and the studio are surely hoping that the calls to boycott the movie will have quietened down by the summer of 2022, especially when The Crimes of Grindelwald didn’t pull in anywhere near the box office numbers expected of a Harry Potter prequel.
Mikkelsen faces a tough task to win over the naysayers and doubters, so fingers crossed his performance as the bad guy in a big budget blockbuster turns out more like Casino Royale‘s Le Chiffre and less like Doctor Strange‘s Kaecilius.
