The "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them" sequel has made a major casting announcement, that of Jude Law as a young Albus Dumbledore. The new franchise set in the "Harry Potter" universe in the 1920's has already revealed that Johnny Depp will play Gellert Grindelwald in the rest of the films, while Eddie Redmayne will return as Newt Scamander from the first film.
What role will he play?
The question of why Dumbledore will appear in this new series is a good one, but the answer is hugely exciting for the franchise. As has been chronicled in the history of the Harry Potter universe before, Dumbledore was the one who dueled and killed Grindelwald in 1945, ending the great wizard war started by Grindelwald.
This war has not yet begun in earnest in the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise, but is destined to soon.
In fact, wizarding history says that Grindelwald was perhaps even more dangerous and evil than Lord Voldemort himself, so this series may have an incredible ending if the plan is to set everything up towards Jude Law's Dumbledore and Johnny Depp's Grindelwald facing off in a final duel.
How much will he feature?
It has been rumored that Newt Scamander will not even play the main character in every film in this new series. In fact, it is now a strong possibility that Dumbledore will feature as the primary protagonist in some of the later films, as Newt may play a role in the wizard war but is unlikely to be as important as Dumbledore once that conflict breaks out in earnest.
The current plans are for there to be a total of five films in this new series, so it is entirely possible that Dumbledore will take over soon from Newt.
It makes sense to switch things up. While "Fantastic Beasts and where to find them" debuted to excellent reviews, it was the lowest grossing of any "Harry Potter" related film released yet, and the addition of Jude Law to the cast along with the promise of Dumbledore appearing on-screen could help drive the box office numbers higher.
Previous success with established roles
The great wizarding war, and the excellent reviews for the first film in the series, make this a great jumping on point for Law, who has already had a very successful career playing previously established characters. He has already taken on the role of Dr. John Watson in "Sherlock Holmes" as well as the role of Errol Flynn in "The Aviator".
Law was one of the favorites to get the role of the young Albus Dumbledore in the "Fantastic Beasts" sequels from the moment it was announced that Warner Bros were looking to cast the role.
"Fantastic Beasts 2" (not final title) is expected to have a 2018 release date and is set to star Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Johnny Depp and Ezra Miller, alongside Jude Law.
