With principal photography starting today at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, the magical world that proceeds Harry Potter in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2 got a bit closer with the announcement of the wider cast for the film. We already had confirmation that Jude Law (King Arthur: The Legend Of The Sword) would be joining the cast as a younger version of Albus Dumbledore, but the latest details list out more of the characters that will be included in the sequel.
Perhaps the most interesting news is that Ezra Miller will be back as following the dark end of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. It’s pretty unexpected for him to return, but maybe his part in Justice League has made it more appealing too keep him in the cast. There are no details as of yet about how he could possibly return, other than Warner Bros describing it as mysterious, so it’s going to be one of the big talking points about the film ahead of its release in November 2018.
In addition to Miller’s return to the series, the second film will also feature Johnny Depp (Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge) back in his role as Gellert Grindelwald. According to the latest from the production, he will be up against both Aldus Dumbledore and Newt Scamander in the new fantasy adventure, as they try to stop his latest dark plan for control of both the magical and muggle worlds.
Obviously, Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn) will be back as the fantastic beast aficionado Newt Scamander and he’ll be joined by Alison Sudol as Queenie, Katherine Waterston (Alien: Covenant) as Tina Goldstein and Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski. It means that the entire gang of unexpected heroes will be back together again for the second film.
Returning cast members also include Zoë Kravitz (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Leta Lestrange, although she only featured in the first film in picture form. She’s newts childhood friend and the reason he got expelled from Hogwarts, so there is clearly going to be an intricate story development as she takes on a much bigger part in the sequel. This will inevitably add complexity to newts more recent relationship with a Tina, so it’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.
There are also a fair few new additions to the cast and character list for Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2. Perhaps the most significant, in addition to Jude Law, is English actor and model Callum Turner, who has been cast as Newt’s older brother Theseus Scamander. He was mentioned fleetingly in the first film as a war hero and celebrated Auror for the Ministry of magic, so he’s got a pretty big shadow for Newt to walk in.
The new cast members also include Icelandic actor Ingvar Sigurdsson as Bounty Hunter Grimmson, William Nadylam as a wizard called Usuf Kama, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as wizard circus owner Skender and Claudia Kim as one of the circus’ main attractions.
If that isn’t enough news from the world of witchcraft and wizardry, Warner Bros. has also announced that the setting for the film will be at least partially in New York, which is where the first film took place. However, other locations include London and Paris, which we’re expecting to be the main backdrops for Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2.
The film will take place in 1927, just a matter of months after Newt, Tina, Queenie and Jacob managed to help stop Gellert Grindelwald. We last saw Newt heading off on a ship to cross the Atlantic back to Europe, which is where the new film will pick things up, adding to the expectation of London and Paris to be the main settings for the sequel.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2 is only a working title as of yet, so it’s quite possible that a new title will be announced in the build up to the 2018 release date. However, we’re still pretty sure there will be one hell of a lot of fantastic beasts to discover in the sequel, no matter what goes on to be called.
