**SPOILERS FOR FANTASTIC BEASTS 2 BELOW**
The latest entry in the Wizarding World franchise – FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD – had everyone in the very crowded cast on the hunt for Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), asking one question: Who is this young man and why is the Obscurus inside him so strong? The finale answered this is with a big twist that has left moviegoers and Potter fanatics using their wands as headscratchers, and now Miller has broken his silence on the shocker, and hints even he’s approaching the reveal with a bit of caution.
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In the movie, we find out via a quick, throwaway line of dialogue from Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) to Newt (Eddie Redmayne) that Credence did not die after the destructive finale of the first FANTASTIC BEASTS movie, but instead fled and is now part of a circus in Paris. The young lad sparked the interest of Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), who hopes to recruit him as he is the “only one” who can kill Dumbledore. The begs the question, “Why?”, and the reasoning the ending presents is that Credence is actually a Dumbledore – Aurelius Dumbledore – Albus’ brother. This “secret Dumbledore” was never existent in Harry Potter lore until this movie, and fans are rightly trying to figure out where it all fits in and how it makes sense (short answer: it really doesn’t), and Miller said (via IndieWire) maybe it’s best to not spend so much time thinking about it.
“I guess the point of this film is probably don’t take anything that metaphorical Grindelwald says as gospel in general. But do we bring that forward, then apply it to the information he gives the Obscurial at the end of the film? Well, I don’t know, honestly. Maybe not.”
Throughout the movie, the notion is presented that perhaps he is the lost sister of Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz), who then kicks that idea to the curb when she confesses to swapping her real brother with another baby while on a ship to America. That ship eventually went down, with her real brother with it. However, turns out that new baby she took was also a special baby. That's when the big Shyamalan twist comes, and it seems even more cobbled together and random than the Lestrange relation would’ve been. Fans are pointing out that Albus couldn’t have a younger brother Credence’s age, as his father, Percival, was imprisoned in Azkaban for retaliating against some Muggle boys who attacked his sister, Ariana, and his mother, Kendra, died some years later – all this before Credence was apparently born. Miller thinks there’s room for this ending to hold true, as maybe Grindelwald was so close to Dumbledore that he knows things about his family no one else does.
“I think that, on the one hand, from a Harry Potter canon perspective, there are reasons why Grindelwald would definitely know something like that, given his connection to Albus and that family. And we know he had this history that involved Aberforth and Ariana. So it’s not impossible that there’s validity and truth to it.”
However:
“Is it impossible that Grindelwald is lying? Obviously also, no, it’s not impossible.”
While he seems to be keeping his mind open (or is at least trying to not confirm anything for spoiler’s sake), he also spoke with EW on the matter, saying writer J.K. Rowling didn’t just toss this ending in for no good reason and knows exactly where all this is going. In fact, she may actually like seeing our brains squirm over all this.
“Jo’s really good at that. She knows the mythology so well and I think she’s into confounding you for a moment and having a fan go, ‘wait that can’t make sense!’ and then showing you how things you thought couldn’t make sense make sense. I think she enjoys people not getting it for a second. She’s done it to us a bunch of times.”
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Miller also told EW that Jude Law knows what the truth really is, but is sworn to secrecy. Perhaps this means Grindelwald is just using poor Credence and he's really not a Dumbledore…or he is, but maybe he just gets wiped from the history books, hence why we have never heard of him until now. Whatever the truth is, I'm not the only one whose head hurts over all this, so I'm just going to not think about it anymore. I'll watch the next movie just like everyone else, and maybe — maybe — the picture will get a bit clearer. Hell, he could really be Snape's father, what with all the moodiness.
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD is in theaters now.