As David Yates and his crew continue with filming on the third installment in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, the team has to adjust to newcomer Mads Mikkelsen, who’ll be taking over for Johnny Depp as the villainous Grindelwald from here on out.
After the UK court ruled against the Pirates of the Caribbean star in his libel case against The Sun, Warner Bros. asked him to step away from the Wizarding World’s spinoff series. The verdict, which was questionable in and of itself, and the outcome subsequently led to a lot of rage and backlash on social media. In fact, Depp’s supporters are still ferociously campaigning to have the company rehire the actor. Though clearly, their pleas are falling on deaf ears.
For now, it seems that WB will push forward with Mads Mikkelsen as Grindelwald. And to be fair, it’s not an entirely unreasonable choice when you think about it. Even a recent deep fake video showed us that the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actor could be brilliant as the big bad.
In an interview with AP Entertainment, the star discussed the role and while he wouldn’t spill much, he did say that he hasn’t spoken with Johnny Depp about it yet.
NEW FACE OF GRINDELWALD: @TheOfficialMads Mikkelsen is taking over from Johnny Depp as “Fantastic Beasts” villain Grindelwald and hasn't spoken to the other actor about the role. pic.twitter.com/WycJ4HVlMt
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) December 16, 2020
It’s sort of like an industry tradition for actors to hold meetings when they’re passing the torch. Whether it’s the new James Bond or Gotham’s Caped Crusader, the experienced usually have useful hints for the newcomers. This is also true for roles that get recast before the story comes to a close. Though apparently, that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
Mikkelsen went on to note that he’ll somehow have to bridge the gap himself, saying:
“That’s the only approach I can have, to connect the bridge between what he did and what I’m going to do. And then we’ll see where it lands.”
Are you excited about the return of Grindelwald, this time with Mikkelsen playing him, in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts threequel, though? Sound off below with your thoughts.