When Johnny Depp announced that he was stepping down from the role of Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3 after being asked to resign by the studio, Warner Bros. wasted no time in making it clear that they were planning to move on as swiftly as possible. Not long after Depp released his statement, it was confirmed that the Wizarding World’s most dangerous threat was going to be recast, with shooting on the sequel having already been underway for weeks.
Mads Mikkelsen is currently in talks to inherit the mantle of Grindelwald, thus rendering any petitions attempting to convince the higher ups to reinstate the fallen former Pirates of the Caribbean star completely obsolete. That hasn’t stopped the campaign to bring Johnny Depp back from continuing to gather momentum, though, and over 150,000 people have now lent their support to the idea via a Petition over at Change.org.
Obviously, Hollywood very rarely if ever listens to these sorts of things, and Amber Heard clearly doesn’t buy into the concept, either, but it at least shows that Depp still has the full and unwavering backing of his loyal army of fans. Close to 500,000 have signed petitions demanding that the 57 year-old be rehired for the two franchises he was dropped from, while over a million have supported the idea of his ex-wife being booted from Aquaman 2, which makes it pretty obvious what the overriding sentiment among the public is.
Unfortunately, however, with Fantastic Beasts 3 locked in for a summer 2022 release date and Depp picking up at least $10 million for one day’s worth of filming, fans will have to get used to the idea that Grindelwald is going to look very different when the third entry in the prequel series arrives in theaters, presuming that they actually go and see it, that is.