‘Fantastic Beasts 2’: New Set Photos Show Jude Law As Handsome Young Dumbledore

Harry Potter fans were treated to two new official photos of the Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them sequel, featuring Jude Law as the young Albus Dumbledore. While this wasn’t the first time for fans to see Jude Law in costume, the new images provide a closer look at the young Dumbledore in action.

The two photos are lifted from the upcoming sequel, entitled Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In one picture, the young Professor Dumbledore is seen sitting in what looks like an office. There’s another man standing behind him, though Warner Bros. did not reveal who the character is.

Until now, fans have only seen Dumbledore as the quirky Hogwarts headmaster and grandfatherly wizard who mentored Harry Potter. As such, film critics were surprised and delighted to see his character come to life once again, this time as a young wizard. According to Polygon, his younger self is rather “dapper” and has “a new essence of cool.”

“Dumbledore has always been rather laid back, even in the face of certain death, but there’s a new essence of cool surrounding his younger self.”

Meanwhile, the other photo shows Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald, Dumbledore’s best friend who turned out to be his fiercest nemesis. In the first Fantastic Beasts movie, Colin Farrell technically played the role of Grindelwald although he was supposedly portraying another role. By the end of the movie, it was revealed that Grindelwald was hiding under the guise of Farrell’s character.

The upcoming sequel will finally reveal the full, wicked glory of the dark wizard under Johnny Depp’s characterization. The actor has received a lot of backlash for the role after news broke that he allegedly abused his ex-wife Amber Heard. However, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has stood by the casting and supported Depp for the role.

“Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies,” Rowling wrote in a blog post.

“I accept that there will be those who are not satisfied with our choice of actor in the title role. However, conscience isn’t governable by committee. Within the fictional world and outside it, we all have to do what we believe to be the right thing.”

According to Collider, J.K. Rowling has previously revealed that Dumbledore was actually gay and in love with Grindelwald when they were both younger. Fans will have to watch the next Fantastic Beasts installments to find out whether this storyline will be played out.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second of five movies under the franchise. It also stars Eddie Redmayne as the main protagonist of the story, the acclaimed magizoologist Newt Scamander. The movie will hit the theaters in November 2018.