Jude Law Explains Why Dumbledore’s Queer Sexuality Won’t Be in ‘Fantastic Beasts 2’
Harry Potter fans were upset with J.K. Rowling earlier this year when it was revealed Dumbledore won’t be depicted as gay in the Fantastic Beasts sequel. Despite the author revealing the Hogwarts headmaster’s queer sexuality years ago, director David Yates said the new movie won’t show the younger version of the character as “explicitly” gay. But why is that the case, according to Jude Law?
The actor, who’s playing the younger version of Albus Dumbledore – while he was 115 when he died in The Half-Blood Prince book, Law’s playing him at age 46 – recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the film. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will follow Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander as he hunts down the escaped dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) with the help of Dumbledore. When asked about the lack of reference to the character’s queer sexuality in the sequel, Law said he discussed it with Rowling. He also suggested it will be acknowledged in the future of the five-film franchise:
Jo Rowling revealed some years back that Dumbledore was gay. That was a question I actually asked Jo and she said, yes, he’s gay. But as with humans, your sexuality doesn’t necessarily define you; he’s multifaceted. I suppose the question is: How is Dumbledore’s sexuality depicted in this film? What you got to remember this is only the second Fantastic Beasts film in a series and what’s brilliant about Jo’s writing is how she reveals her characters, peels them to the heart over time. You’re just getting to know Albus in this film, and there’s obviously a lot more to come. We learn a little about his past in the beginning of this film, and characters and their relationships will unfold naturally which I’m excited to reveal. But we’re not going to reveal everything all at once.
Hm, okay. That’s about what I expected, that Rowling will eventually address Dumbledore’s sexuality in the future films. But it still doesn’t make the decision any less disappointing. Based on the timeline, we know that Dumbledore fell in love with Gellert as a young wizard years before Law’s version, and the series will likely flashback (much as Deathly Hallows Part I did) to show the two as younger men. Perhaps they’re saving that for the third or fourth movie, but why should that prevent the upcoming film from making even a small mention of his queerness? Don’t tell me a hot professor who looks like Law wasn’t dating in his 40s. Would a little gay flirtation a The Leaky Cauldron hurt?
Law revealed a little more about what to expect of his Dumbledore in the sequel. For one, he won’t have any scenes with Depp, with Rowling likely saving their reunion for the rest of the series. He also described Dumbledore’s wand – not the Elder wand – as one that’s “very reflective of him, beautiful dark wood root with a stone on one end.” He confirmed that his professor won’t be teaching Transfiguration in this movie but another class (which we’ve guessed is Defense Against the Dark Arts based on this photo).
We’ll probably learn more, and maybe even see the first full trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald during Warner Bros’ Comic-Con panel this weekend. Stay tuned for those updates. The film arrives on November 16.
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