Fantastic Beasts - The Secrets of Dumbledore || The Tea

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 

Dec 13th Trailer Reaction: 

It’s been awhile but we finally have some new content for the next Fantastic Beasts film. And I’ll be honest, when they removed Johnny Depp as Grindelwald I wasn’t actually planning on continuing with it. But then the one actor was cast as Grindelwald that I can’t be upset about. Or rather the one actor that will get me to give this movie a chance. Mads Mikkelsen. I loved him in Hannibal, Casino Royale, and many of his Danish films. I still think Johnny Depp is the best choice for the role of Grindelwald, and I think it was a huge mistake to remove him. That being said I think Mads will still do a great job, despite my casting preferences. He is still a phenomenal actor. 

Now. The trailer. Aside from my issues with Grindelwald, I think it looks pretty great so far. So let’s dive right in. 

Things I’m looking forward to:

More Jacob humor! This is probably number one. I love Newt, he is my favorite, but Jacob has some of the best moments in both of the other films. And Jacob gets a wand? Whose was it or where did Dumbledore get it? Does it work? Is Jacob able to use it? What does that mean? And Jacob sitting in the great hall with students? Yes, please! Comedic gold. 

More Niffler and Pickett! The Niffler was and is still one of my all time favorite things about this franchise. The Nifflers are so cute and add such a fun element to the films. Also in this trailer, which I missed on the first watch through, we have the main Niffler sitting in a dish playing with perhaps cutlery and it’s adorable! And it looks like Pickett gets some more screen time this movie. And that’s adorable, and also in Pickett’s case sassy, and I can’t wait to see all those moments. 

More creatures in general! I find it hard for a Fantastic Beasts film to not have some new creatures. Maybe not as many as say the first two, but already we have the strange crab-scorpions and Newt doing a fun crab-like walk. Who knows what else the film will bring. 

Since the movie is titled, The Secrets of Dumbledore, I fully expect some of his past with Grindelwald to be revealed. We’ve only had little bits of this relationship and a lot of that came from Dumbledore’s obituary in the Harry Potter series. They have teased a lot between these two, romantic relationship and all that, but we have yet to really get a full understanding of just how close they were or what their relationship was really like. They are both very charismatic, strong, manipulative personalities. I’m very curious to see them when they were together. Give us the flashbacks please! 

Another thing I always love about the Fantastic Beasts films is the magic. The spells are spectacular, the special effects of the spells are spectacular, and because they are all adult wizards in the film they can cast magic much more freely and their knowledge is much more vast. It makes it very appealing.

Bunty! That’s it, all that needs to be said. I am really looking forward to seeing more of her. She, like Jacob, could bring some good comedy gold as she did in her brief moment in Crimes of Grindelwald. 

Last thing is pretty basic, but Jude law and Eddie Redmayne as Dumbledore and Newt. I love them both as actors and they do a phenomenal job in their roles. 

Things I’m not looking forward to or potential problems:

As much as I love Mads Mikkelsen, as I said above I’m not the biggest fan of replacing Johnny Depp in general and as such still am not looking forward to him not playing Grindelwald. And added to that, I didn’t see Mads having the two colored eyes as Grindelwald which is a disappointment for me. I loved the look it gave Depp’s Grindelwald. I am loving Mads hair though, side note. Second side note, Mads wardrobe is giving me serious Hannibal vibes and I’m not mad about it.  You know what, I’m calling it canon that Hannibal is really Grindelwald in disguise. Let the fanfiction commence

Credence. Credence has not been my favorite of story elements thus far, but maybe if they make his backstory interesting enough it’ll get better? But all we have right now are theories and his character just never clicked with me. There’s not enough interesting things about him for me to get past his, in my opinion, stand-offish personality. 

Now, this one may be unpopular, but Newt and Tina relationship progression. I don’t know why but they aren’t my favorite couple. Sure, they are cute, I won’t deny it. They have some very adorable moments. But something about them just feels a little off to me and I’d rather they not be an endgame couple but I know they have to be. 

That leads me into, where was Tina in the trailer? They had the rest of the original crew somewhere, but not Tina? That bothered me a little. Though, The Super Carlin Brothers do have an interesting theory for this issue. 

Next, Harry Potter’s Dumbledore making an appearance. Now, this is purely conditional on whether Michael Gambon makes an actual appearance or it’s just clips taken from the Harry Potter films. IF he makes an appearance, then it makes the I’m not looking forward to it list. Michael Gambon’s portrayal of Dumbledore is probably my LEAST favorite thing in the Harry Potter films. Richard Harris was damn near perfect and I think there were better choices than Michael Gambon to cast when Harris passed away. So if he is joining the cast for whatever reason, I’m not a fan. If it’s just using clips from the Harry Potter films then I’m in a more neutral position and it’s fine. 

Theories: 

Let’s start with Grindelwald. I’ve wondered if they are going to explain the visual change or not. If they don’t, it’s the we pretend nothing is different and do not see it philosophy. If they do try to explain it, what route would they take? Well, to me, the most obvious route is that Depp’s Grindelwald was yet another fake visage or body and not his real one. As they’ve had him take on the form of others already. 

Credence. Do I think he is a Dumbledore? No. I think Grindelwald is lying and manipulating out the wazoo here. I think it will be revealed who he is and that will turn him against Grindelwald at the end of film or sooner. Assuming they are continuing with all five and not ending it with three. Box office numbers may make a difference, who knows. 

Jacob. Oh boy. Did they open some Pandora’s boxes here. Why did Dumbledore want Jacob to have a wand? Is it because he is magical and Dumbledore knows? Is it because he wants Jacob to appear magical? Did it belong to an ancestor of Jacob? Is Jacob actually a wizard that never got a letter to Ilvermorny and never got any formal magical training? 

Based on the information at hand, I’d say he’s a squib and the wand was from one the wizards in his bloodline. Essentially a Dumbledore-y way to give Jacob a clue to his past. Because Dumbledore just doesn’t make things easy and give straight answers. Maybe this is where we get more details on squibs and their full potential or abilities within the wizarding world. We know they can’t do magic but do they have some abilities muggles don’t. Seeing the Dementors for one. And maybe the ability resist certain magical charms? We saw Jacob regain his memory when he shouldn’t have recovered it at all. He survived the bite from the murtlap without serious side effects. A squib philology may be more similar to that of wizards than muggles. Squibs have access to magical knowledge, can see things muggles can’t, like Hogwarts castle, seeing the obscurus, and connecting with magical creatures. All things that seem to apply to Jacob. Plus other suspicious instances. If you want a good theory explanation for Jacob being a squib check out the video done by The Super Carlin Brothers. Very convincing. Also throwing this theory in here by The Super Carlin Brothers because it’s a good one I hadn’t initially thought, maybe the wand isn’t a wand at all and it’s an enchanted item that will end up protecting or aiding Jacob. 

But my money is, I think Jacob is a squib and the wand is Dumbledore’s way of dropping breadcrumbs so the questions get raised and in true Dumbledore fashion he swoops in with the answers. 

And That’s The Tea!