We’ve got a brand new trailer from San Diego Comic Con for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and it looks like those crimes are really stacking up.
Prepare yourselves for a hard pitch on behalf of wizarding fascism:
There’s a lot going on here, including a pretty clear idea of how events with Grindelwald will unfold going forward. We also get to meet Nicholas Flamel by the end (pronouncing his own name like a true and proper Frenchman, unlike everyone else in the Potter films), which indicates that we might have to worry about him and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone. Newt is being put on a very dangerous path by Dumbledore, but we still don’t know how all the pieces or characters fit together.
And then there’s who Dumbedore sees in the Mirror of Erised. Which he once told Harry was himself holding a pair of woolen socks. And is most certainly Gellert Grindelwald. Of course, this could be written off as Albus wanting to catch and/or stop Grindelwald, but we do know he was in love with the man, so… that’s something for fandom to implode over.
I don’t know how to feel about this. I liked Fantastic Beasts, but aside from that great scene inside the suitcase it just lacks the warmth of the rest of the Potter verse. Then again, we’re not in a historical period where warm and happy are particularly sought after by the viewing audience; sadly.
By the end of this trailer, I was trembling and had to restrain myself from shrieking with excitement. Magic in France! Nicholas Flamel! More Credence! More Newt! More Jacob! More creatures!!
such war. many magic. so wow.
The only question I have is, why is Dumbledore, the Transfuration teacher, working with students learning about boggarts?
I don’t mind the loss of warm and fuzzy. This is war, this is more real, like the seedy underbelly of the Wizarding World. I love it!
Wait, wasn’t there a premature freak-out a few months ago about how the filmmakers weren’t doing this right? Yes, yes there was.
Looks to me like they might be hitting that pragmatic middle ground: fairly explicit for those who know the characters and what the Mirror of Erised does, not so ‘explicit’ as to sidetrack the main plot or (perhaps more importantly) prevent the film from being released in China and other more restrictive international markets.
@3 I think that had more to do with Dumbledore have zero scenes with Grindelwald. It leads to speculation if there was actually a full blown relationship and not just Dumbledore pining away.
I’m pretty pumped for this. I like seeing the adult wizarding world :) And I love Jacob :)
Newt’s office job ‘fear’ kind of cracked me up. My first instinct was that, ‘really? You can’t think of anything you are more afraid of? Losing your loved ones, etc?’ – but then I remembered these are 13 year olds and that kind of fear just hasn’t been ingrained in you yet.
I loved it! I have to admit that I’m not of a fan of Depp’s casting, but even leaving that aside, the only thing that looks awful in the trailer is his hairstyle and make-up.
Does Jude Law know he’s playing Dumbledore? Since when would Dumbledore wear a business suit? Where’s the whimsy?
@7 Young Dumbledore clearly is still in his more serious part of his life, people change as they age.
@8 – In the late 1930’s, when Dumbledore went to visit Tom Riddle in the orphanage, he was described as wearing some kind of velvet suit.
@9 And? That is still ten years or so out from this time period. He’s got the defeat of Grindelwald to get past first.
@9, @10: The film version of the suit he wore to the orphanage was far more subdued than the one hinted at in the books. And like most men at the time he probably owned more than one suit, with some more conservative than others for different situations.
@10 – He defeats Grindelwald in 1945. But we’re getting off track here. It is never even hinted at in the books that Dumbledore dresses like a Muggle banker. He’s always been described as dressing flamboyantly. That’s the essence of Dumbledore. That and acting whimsically and irreverent. But so far it looks like Jude Law in a suit.
Dumbledore teaching DADA; Dumbledore dressing conservatively; Dumbledore seeing Grindelwald in the Mirror. Really? This feels like so much fan service and retconning. And JKR specifically said he saw his family, with Ariana alive, in the Mirror. I could have accepted seeing Grindelwald before Ariana died, but after? I want to be excited for these films, but there’s too much tinkering with the original “canon” of the seven books for me. (And way too much CGI.)