Will ‘Fantastic Beasts 2’ Feature Gay Romance Involving Jude Law’s Dumbledore, Johnny Depp’s Grindelwald?

Fantastic Beasts 2 has roped in Jude Law to play a young Albus Dumbledore. The beloved Hogwarts School headmaster of the Harry Potter series is a transfiguration professor in the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is set 70 years before Harry Potter attends Hogwarts.

Unlike the Harry Potter movies and books’ character, Jude Law’s Dumbledore could be openly gay in Fantastic Beasts 2. Almost a decade ago, the Harry Potter series creator, J.K. Rowling, outed the character, saying that she always thought of Dumbledore as gay.

At the time, she also talked about Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald’s relationship. J.K. Rowling said that Dumbledore was “very drawn” to the brilliant Grindelwald, but his love ended in “great tragedy” when he discovered, to his horror, that the charming wizard was more interested in the Dark Arts than a good act.

She also said that Grindelwald “horribly, terribly” let Dumbledore down, adding that falling in love could blind anyone to an extent.

Harry Potter’s mentor did not appear in the first movie of the five-part Fantastic Beasts franchise. On the other hand, his rival, played by Johnny Depp, made a brief appearance. In the sequel, the younger Dumbledore is set to make a grand entrance, while his former crush is expected to discard his cameo tag and occupy the foreground as the chief antagonist.

As the Fantastic Beasts’ movies are set decades before the Harry Potter series, it is possible that the sequel might explore Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s short-lived friendship, when the former fell in love with the dark wizard.

A toast to our Dumbledore! pic.twitter.com/3Np0UVBOiM

— Arthur Weasley ? (@Weasley_dad) April 12, 2017

The news that Jude Law is playing the younger Dumbledore has triggered speculations about Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s gay love story. Also, some fans took to social media to demand friends-turned-rivals’ gay relationship in Fantastic Beasts 2.

if Dumbledore isn't gay in the Fantastic Beasts sequel then count me out ??

— ACAB ?? (@alexwareable) April 14, 2017

Meanwhile, in an editorial piece written for Harry Potter‘s fan site Mugglenet.com, Elayna Mae Darcy hopes that J.K. Rowling will use the opportunity that the Fantastic Beasts series provides to show the fans a side of Dumbledore that they could never have seen when he was a much older man. She also writes that hopefully, the young Dumbledore will acknowledge his sexuality.

“We have the chance to witness, in real time, a Dumbledore who is young and vivacious and who, hopefully, both acknowledges his sexuality and gives us a chance to see a well-rounded gay character in a mainstream blockbuster.”

Both J.K. Rowling and director David Yates have not confirmed that the sequel would feature gay romance involving Dumbledore and Grindelwald, although the director had said that the sequel would have a romantic element.

Fantastic Beasts 2 will be predominantly set in Paris, while the first movie was set in 1920s New York. In an interview given to Slash Film soon after the premiere of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, David Yates said that they were taking the second movie to Paris because Grindelwald was from Paris, and thematically, the movie was going to have a romantic element.

“Grindelwald is from Europe and it feels natural to take it to — and we’ve never been to Europe before. And Paris thematically, the second movie has a kind of romantic element about it. And if you’re gonna have a romantic element, it seems absolutely right to set a movie in Paris. So that’s one of the reasons.”

In another interview, he revealed that the beasts were going to take a backseat in the sequel as the focus would shift to Grindelwald. Also, Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) is set to return in Fantastic Beasts 2.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’s protagonist, magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), will be sharing some screen time with Dumbledore. Jude Law’s character has a couple of good scenes with Newt, according to David Yates.

Fantastic Beasts 2 is scheduled to begin filming in August, and it is slated to release on November 16, 2018.

[Featured Image by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File]