Get ready to go to Beauxbatons. Les Animaux Fantastiques — the far superior French name for the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them saga — might become more widespread, as Paris is one of the locations for the second installment.
Director David Yates announced that the second of the five film franchise will be set in the UK and Paris. It’s also been confirmed that a young Dumbledore — who is a Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts at this time — will feature, though no casting news is out yet. We can expect Dumbledore to have an important role in the story, as he wrote the forward to Newt Scamander’s book Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.
But that’s not all he’ll add to the tale. Fantastic Beasts is set at the height of Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald’s (Johnny Depp) power. He seeks to overturn the International Statute of Secrecy and have Wizards preside over Muggles “for the greater good.” Recall that Dumbledore had either a romance or an unrequited crush on Grindelwald. The two men had a falling out that resulted in Dumbledore’s sister’s death.
It’s safe to say tensions are high between the two men — remember, its twenty years before Dumbledore will pluck up the courage to challenge Grindelwald to a duel. And a third man might exacerbate this. Ezra Miller’s mysterious character Credence Barebone, will, according to David Yates, “become quite pivotal.”
Credence has a background not unlike Voldemort and Severus Snape — he’s got complicated mommy issues that might force him into extremist views, as his adopted mother is a Muggle who hates wizards. And Colin Farrell’s character Percival Graves, an Auror with his own extreme views, is interested in Credence.
Percival Graves
Whether these wizards turn to the light side or the dark, it’s safe to say one movie is not enough time for the mischief to be managed.
