Johnny Depp Still In Fantastic Beasts, But Due To Controversy Maybe Not Much
Johnny Depp might be back as Gellert Grindelwald, but don't expect a lot of him.
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Johnny Depp has been embroiled in controversy for quite some time now, and his ongoing legal feud with ex-wife Amber Heard is only making things more difficult. It has left his prominent film roles in a state of limbo. One of those is the role of Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter spinoff film series, Fantastic Beasts. There has been a bunch of speculation about whether or not Depp will return to the franchise or how prominent his character would be.
Well, according to highly dubious rumor-monger Grace Randolph, you will be seeing Johnny Depp in the next Fantastic Beasts movie, but you won’t be seeing a whole lot of him. Randolph tweeted this supposed scoop about the movie star’s involvement in the next entry:
Randolph claims that Johnny Depp is being shot in a way that the role of Gellert Grindelwald can be decreased if bad press continues to plague the star. Exactly how would that work? Unsurprisingly, Randolph offers no concrete explanation. Whether this rumor has any validity at all is worth questioning. Randolph has been called out by film directors like James Wan and James Gunn in the past, so it is always wise to err on the side of caution with her “scoops.”
Even without the bad press surrounding Johnny Depp, it is surprising to hear that the Fantastic Beasts franchise is still in the works. The first two movies didn’t exactly set the box office on fire, and series creator J.K. Rowling is neck-deep in her own controversies right now. It is going to be interesting to see how a third Fantastic Beasts movie manages to avoid any bad press considering that these two key creatives are the focal point of so much negative attention.
Considering that Colin Farrell was the original actor playing Gellert Grindelwald, albeit in disguise, it is worth questioning why Johnny Depp needs to be the face of the franchise anyway. The series is full of magical explanations for characters appearing as someone else. It seems like it would be easier to just recast the role and say that it is a new disguise that Grindelwald has adapted to help himself fly under the radar.
Again, this could all be nothing but hot air considering the source. In fact, it likely is. Johnny Depp was likely contracted for a certain number of Fantastic Beasts movies and is still under that contract. Saying that he is returning for the next entry is not exactly the biggest scoop in the world. And the idea that he is being shot in a way that can decrease his role in the movie sounds like a logistical nightmare that no production would want to take on. At that point, it would likely be cheaper to just void Depp’s contract and give him a payout.
We will have to wait and see what the future will hold for Johnny Depp and the Fantastic Beasts franchise. In the meantime, why not just watch Potter Puppet Pals? It’s a much better use of the Harry Potter property than anything in the Fantastic Beasts movies.
