Warner Bros. has released the final poster for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald along with a set of new character posters. And as posters go, they’re totally fine. I’m used to Warner Bros. releasing a slew of posters for their blockbuster moves, and I didn’t expect Fantastic Beasts to be any different. But something that has jumped out at me is the tagline. While those are determined by marketing departments and not storytellers, I am intrigued by “Who will change the future?”
I can’t help but wonder if The Crimes of Grindelwald is going to take Fantastic Beasts in an unexpected direction. The biggest strike against prequels is that you know how they’re going to end, so the best the storyteller can offer is, “Hey, enjoy the journey.” But screenwriter J.K. Rowling has shown that she’s not averse to time travel narratives. She first employed it in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and she signed off on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which is all about going back in time and changing things.
Harry Potter fans have been comfortable in their knowledge that Dumbledore defeats Grindelwald in 1945, but what if Rowling were to rewrite history? On the one hand, this would almost certainly piss off fans who feel like she’s tinkering too much with her own story. However, throwing in a time travel element to disrupt the narrative might be the only way to get Fantastic Beasts out of the realm of inevitability. Or it could just be an empty tagline.
Check out the Fantastic Beasts posters below. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opens November 16th and stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp.
Here’s the official synopsis for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald:
At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.
In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
The film features an ensemble cast led by Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Carmen Ejogo, Poppy Corby-Tuech, with Jude Law and Johnny Depp.
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is directed by David Yates, from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling. The film is produced by David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram. Tim Lewis, Neil Blair, Rick Senat and Danny Cohen serve as executive producers.
