The rumor circulating for the past couple weeks has finally been confirmed, as Mads Mikkelsen has now officially confirmed his involvement in the next Fantastic Beasts film. He will be replacing Johnny Depp as the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the upcoming film, currently set to release July 15, 2022.
This confirmation comes on the heels of Depp's forced departure from the film due to his loss on a libel case with a U.K. tabloid paper. After news broke, speculation quickly began spreading about Mikkelsen stepping in as his replacement. It seems that speculation was more than just idle chatter, as Warner Bros officially confirmed the rumor only 2 weeks later.
Mikkelsen was at the top of the potential replacement list when Depp originally left the film, which may not have been the ideal outcome for some fans of the series. But while many were displeased at the sudden change (either as fans of Depp's performance or supporters of his side in the very public issues surrounding his tumultuous marriage with actress Amber Heard), the general consensus seems to have been that Mikkelsen is a satisfactory substitution given the circumstances.
Depp has been inspiring headlines for quite some time now thanks to the aforementioned marriage issues. Both Depp and Heard had accused each other of domestic abuse over the past couple years, and to this day, the truth still appears elusive. Depp's libel case against British tabloid paper The Sun claimed that the paper's allegations against him and labeling of him a "wife beater" were not based on actual evidence and that they did genuine harm to his reputation. While the judge agreed about his reputation, the case was ultimately dismissed.
Many have called out Depp's treatment as unfair, especially since Heard (who has also had credible accusations of abuse alleged against her) recently confirmed her return as Mera in DC's Aquaman sequel. While both Heard and Depp appear to have similar allegations towards the other with accompanying evidence, only Depp has seen material consequences in the form of his Fantastic Beasts departure. Again, the absolute truth still has yet to be completely established, but there definitely appears to be a rather substantial gray area to the issue.
Whatever the case, Mikkelsen is an excellent actor whose contributions are always welcome, and Fantastic Beasts 3 will likely be no different. (That's right, this piece is still about him, after all.) Here's hoping everything gets sorted out fairly and this film ends up a worthy recipient of Mikkelsen's talents.
Once again, Fantastic Beasts 3 has a current release date of July 15, 2022.
Source: Deadline