Mads Mikkelsen confirmed as 'Fantastic Beasts' franchise's new Grindelwald

The Harry Potter universe has finally found a new fantastic beast.

Warner Bros. has officially confirmed Mads Mikkelsen will replace Johnny Depp in the third Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film, making Dumbledore's crush on the wizard Nazi Grindelwald make way more sense.

Mikkelsen is no stranger to evil magic users, having previously played supervillain sorcerer Kaecilius in Doctor Strange. The Danish actor also has a significant history of playing amoral or downright villainous characters such as Hannibal's charismatic title character, and was the eponymous Bitch in the music video for Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money."

Considering his filmography, Mikkelsen seems an excellent choice to play magnetic murderer wizard and magical fuckboy Grindelwald.

Depp announced in November that he would no longer be playing Grindelwald after Warner Bros. asked him to step down from the role. His exit from the Fantastic Beasts film franchise came closely after Depp lost a libel case against a newspaper that called him a "wife beater," a reference to allegations of domestic violence made by his former wife Amber Heard.

These allegations were already public when Depp was initially cast in 2016, and caused significant backlash to the decision at the time. Now it seems Warner Bros. has finally, belatedly decided to do something about it. Depp will still be paid his full eight-figure salary for Fantastic Beasts 3, having shot one scene before he was expelliarmused.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3 is currently in production, and is scheduled for release on 15 July 2022.

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