Here's Everything We Know About The Upcoming 'Fantastic Beasts' Sequel
New plot details have been released as filming for the movie begins today.
JK Rowling's wizarding world is on track to make a magical comeback very soon, as the sequel to 2016's 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' starts filming today!
In line with the start of production, Warner Bros. has revealed some new casting details and even a smidge of what's in store for the sequel. Here's what we know so far:
1. The yet-untitled sequel is set in 1927, a few months after Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne) helped capture the Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp)
Warner Bros. also confirmed that the movie will include some "surprising nods" to the world of Harry Potter.
2. Though Newt was seen leaving New York on a boat heading to Europe at the end of the first film, the sequel will be set in New York as well as London and Paris
3. Central characters from the first film will be making a return, including the No-Maj Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) and Obscurial Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller)
No-Maj (non-magical) Jacob Kowalski had the memory of his adventures with Newt, Tina (Katherine Waterston) and Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) obliviated at the end of the first film, although he was said to have displayed a "flicker of memory" in his final scene with love interest Queenie.
Meanwhile, Credence - a troubled character who was revealed to be an Obscurial, a dangerous magical force that occurs when wizards repress their magic - will be returning in a "mysterious" way after he was seemingly destroyed at the end of the first film.
4. And now for the new characters! You might've already known of or seen some of them by passing in the first film, such as Albus Dumbledore and Leta Lestrange.
Two-time Oscar nominee Jude Law will be making his debut in the Wizarding World as Albus Dumbledore, previously played by the late Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, and Toby Regbo (young Dumbledore) in the 'Harry Potter' films.
Zoë Kravitz is also set to return as Leta Lestrange, who made a brief appearance in a moving photograph in Newt's workshop in the first film.
5. There will also be entirely new characters, including Newt's brother Theseus Scamander
To be played by Callum Turner ('Assassin's Creed', 'Victor Frankenstein'), Theseus was mentioned in the first film as a war hero and Auror for the Ministry of Magic.
Other new characters who will be introduced in the 'Fantastic Beasts' sequel include Icelandic actor as Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as bounty hunter Grimmson, French actor William Nadylam as a wizard called Yusuf Kama, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson ('True Detective') as Skender, the owner of a wizarding circus, and Claudia Kim ('Avengers: Age of Ultron') as one of the circus' "featured attractions".
6. In what we hope will lead to an epic showdown, Newt will team up with Dumbledore to take on Grindelwald and his followers
According to Pottermore, the Dark wizard Grindelwald will "make a dramatic escape" from MACUSA custody and jump straight into "gathering more followers to his cause - elevating wizards above all non-magical beings".
This will lead to Dumbledore, then still a Hogwarts teacher, to seek out his former student Newt and join the wizarding world's efforts to stop Grindelwald a.k.a. Dumbledore's ex-BFF.