Fantastic Beasts 3: Mads Mikkelsen Is Top Choice To Replace Johnny Depp

It seems that Mads Mikkelsen is on the path to further expand his geek creditability.

Over the last week, Fantastic Beast 3 has experienced a major shake-up in its core cast. Following defeat in his highly publicized libel case against Britain’s The Sun newspaper, Warner Bros. has asked Johnny Depp to step down from the role of Grindelwald to which the actor conceded to. Depp played the dark wizard in the first two installments of the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

Once the news broke out, speculations immediately arose on who will be taking over Grindelwald’s role. One popular choice among fans was Colin Farrell who played Grindelwald in the form of Percival Graves in the first film. Ewan McGregor and Joseph Fiennes were also among the popular votes. Now, however, it seems that Fantastic Beasts 3 has found it’s new Grindelwald.

According to Deadline, Mads Mikkelsen is Fantastic Beasts 3 director David Yates’ top choice to fill in the role. Yates is reportedly a big fan of the actor’s work and although no deal has been signed yet, negotiations are underway.

Luckily for Mikkelsen, the role of Grindelwald is just up his wheelhouse. His credits include a wide variety of intelligent and terrifying villains both on the small screen and in blockbuster films.

Mikkelsen first gained worldwide recognition playing the villainous Le Chiffre in Daniel Craig’s first James Bond film Casino Royale. Since then, he has taken his talents to many big franchises.

Mikkelsen played Galen Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He also starred as the main antagonist, the evil sorcerer Kaecilius, in Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Mikkelsen is most recognized though for his role as the terrifying Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the cult NBC series Hannibal which bears some similarities to certain aspects of Fantastic Beasts 3 more specifically Grindelwald’s relationship with Dumbledore.

According to J.K. Rowling, Grindelwald is very much like those villains, brilliant and ruthless. In his youth, he also maintained a complicated romantic relationship with Albus Dumbledore. As fans of Hannibal might see, this bears resemblance to the psycho-sexual tension between Hannibal and Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham. Fortunately, no one’s getting eaten this time.

Fantastic Beasts 3 is already in the midst of production in the UK and is set for a 2022 release. Fortunately, Depp has only shot one scene so if Mikkelsen does sign on, he won’t need to replicate too much footage and he’ll hopefully be able to make the character his own.