Fantastic Beasts Fans Divided: Was Mikkelsen's Grindelwald Really Better?
Fans' perfect Grindelwald actor might surprise you.
The Fantastic Beasts franchise had its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama, which became one of the reasons why the ratings for the Harry Potter prequels dropped. It even got to the point where Warner Bros. began to ignore the franchise. Despite the original announcement of a five-part series, the third film could very well become the last.
Among many off-screen scandals, the most notorious was the firing of Johnny Depp over domestic violence allegations that were later found to be false by a jury. Because of this scandal, Wizarding World fans lost Depp's portrayal of Gellert Grindelwald in the lead-up to Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Instead, the role went to Mads Mikkelsen.
Now that it's been rumored for a while that Depp might reprise the role if Fantastic Beasts were to continue, fans took to Reddit to discuss who they thought played Grindelwald better. Naturally, such a difficult decision left the fandom divided. But there were some very interesting opinions.
For starters, the majority of fans in the discussion agreed that Depp's version was way off and not what they imagined from reading the Harry Potter books or endless fan fiction. Fans agreed that Grindelwald should be this charismatic, silver-tongued manipulator who can talk anyone into anything. He has to have an almost mesmerizing presence. After all, Dumbledore himself fell for him. And that was not at all the vibe they got from Depp, who just came across as your standard evil wizard.
Surprisingly, Mikkelsen's Grindelwald was not everyone's favorite either. Though many fans loved the aura of charisma and intelligence about him, there was another version that seemed to make a more lasting impression.
"I feel [Colin] Farrell did the best job portraying a menacing yet charming villain," one of the fans commented to the agreement of others.
According to fans, Colin Farrell, who played Grindelwald disguised as Percival Graves in the first film, did a far better job of capturing the character than either Depp or Mikkelsen. Throughout his performance, the actor was just the right amount of manipulative, calm, calculating, and charismatic, which helped him nail the character.
Fans also agreed that Farrell and Jude Law made the most sense together, and their romantic past would have made Fantastic Beasts 3 more believable. Unfortunately, script-wise, Colin Farrell could not reprise the role beyond the first entry.