Harry Potter producer David Heyman has slammed the backlash levelled at Fantastic Beasts 2 after it was revealed Dumbledore and Grindelwalds gay romance would not be explicitly referenced.
Director David Yates confirmed earlier in 2018 that the upcoming Fantastic Beasts sequel – The Crimes Of Grindelwald – will not have any overt mention to Dumbledore as gay – even though its been over 10 years since JK Rowling confirmed the news, making it canon.
Now Heyman has suggested that the criticism is not justified because I think this is a series taking place over five films and there is a journey to go, a journey to be taken.
He told Metro.co.uk: Where Dumbledore and Grindelwald are specifically, we establish their close friendship but the nature of the friendship will evolve over the films we are making. I think people will hopefully understand that.
The second film in the Fantastic Beasts series – the second of five – will introduce us to Johnny Depps Grindelwald, and will set audiences down a path that will lead to an epic battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
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Dumbledores sexuality was never mentioned in Rowlings seven Harry Potter books, nor any of the numerous films that have followed, and it was only in 2007 that she revealed that in her head he was gay.
Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald, and that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was, she said at the time.
To an extent, do we say it excused Dumbledore a little more because falling in love can blind us to an extent, but he met someone as brilliant as he was and, rather like Bellatrix, he was very drawn to this brilliant person and horribly, terribly let down by him.
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The decision however to ignore that information, which is now canon, shocked many fans who believed it was an easy piece of representation for the LGBTQ community.
Dear JK and co – just give Dumbledore a peach in the next film and call it a day, okay?
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