We knew that Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) found himself under the instruction of Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) while attending Hogwarts School and Witchcraft and Wizardry, but it seems that we'll actually be flashing back to Newt's time at Hogwarts in the upcoming FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD. A new image has been revealed by Entertainment Weekly which finds Dumbledore schooling young Newt (Joshua Shea), who is looking rather alarmed as he points his wand towards…something.
In the first installment of the FANTASTIC BEASTS franchise, we learned that Newt had actually been expelled from Hogwarts due to some sort of incident involving a magical beast. EW wonders whether this is actually a glimpse of that scene, and whether Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz), who Newt had a close relationship with, will also be involved somehow. "Leta, it’s one of those relationships where there was definitely great love there," Eddie Redmayne told EW. "But was it ever a full-blown relationship? I don’t know. But certainly, she’s somebody who has touched him hugely. At the beginning of this film you realize she’s now in a relationship with Newt’s brother so, of course, that comes with great complications." Ruh oh.
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD will open in 1927, a few months after the events of the first film in which Newt Scamander helped to capture the infamous dark wizard Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), and, as he promised he would, Grindelwald has made a dramatic escape and has been gathering more followers to his cause — elevating wizards above all non-magical beings. The only one who might be able to stop him is the wizard he once called his dearest friend, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law). But Dumbledore will need help from the wizard who had thwarted Grindelwald once before, his former student Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). The adventure reunites Newt with Tina (Katherine Waterston), Queenie (Alison Sudol) and Jacob (Dan Fogler), but his mission will also test their loyalties as they face new perils in an increasingly dangerous and divided wizarding world.
In addition to the returning characters from the first film, which includes Ezra Miller as the enigmatic Credence, the sequel will also star Claudia Kim as a Maledictus, the carrier of a blood curse that destines her ultimately to transform into a beasts, Callum Turner as Newt's older brother, Theseus Scamander, a celebrated war hero and the Head of the Auror Office at the British Ministry of Magic, and we'll also be properly introduced to Leta Lestrange, played by Zoe Kravitiz, who had once been close to Newt but is now engaged to his brother.
FANTASTIC BEASTS: CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD will hit theaters on November 16, 2018.