Barely a week after it was officially announced that Johnny Depp would be departing from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, Warner Bros. is already looking for replacements. Early reports indicate that the studio is currently in talks with Mads Mikkelsen about having him take over the role of Grindelwald, who serves as the main villain of the films. If he lands the role, he will have been the third person to take over the character, following both Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp.
Farrell played Grindelwald in the first film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as in-universe he was using a different appearance to hide himself. It was then revealed that the character was Grindelwald the whole time, and Johnny Depp took over the role for the second film as his true appearance. However, Depp was asked to leave shortly after beginning work on the third film in the series, partially due to a messy divorce and ongoing litigation between him and ex-wife Amber Heard.
Mikkelsen is, of course, no stranger to playing eccentric villains. He played a bond villain in Casino Royale, he was also in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Strange villain Kaecilus, and one of his most iconic roles was as the TV version of Hannibal Lecter. While recasting a big role like Depp’s is always difficult, Mikkelsen just might be the perfect actor to breathe new life into the role of Grindelwald. Thankfully the Harry Potter universe has quite a few magical artifacts and established tools that can radically alter someone’s appearance, which means inserting a new actor won’t be as difficult as it might have been in a more grounded franchise.
Whether or not Mikkelsen actually takes the role on, the production will need a new Grindelwald and soon. As the main villain, he can’t exactly be written out of the story, and production is already underway. If the film wants to hit its 2022 release date it’ll be important to get somebody in the role as soon as possible.
Fantastic Beasts 3 is set to release on July 15th of 2022.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
