Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them director David Yates revealed an unsurpising but disappointing fact about the upcoming sequel.
In 2007, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling revealed Albus Dumbledore was gay.
Jude Law is playing a young version of the character in the sequel, which takes place several decades before the events of Harry Potter. However, according to Yates, Law’s Dumbledore won’t be ‘explicitly gay’.
‘But I think all the fans are aware of that,’ Yates told Entertainment Weekly. ‘He [Dumbledore] had a very intense relationship with Grindelwald when they were young men. They fell in love with each other’s ideas, and ideology and each other.’
The sequel is aptly sub-titled The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Johnny Depp takes on the role of Grindelwald, which poses its own set of problems.
Yates further described this young Dumbledore as a ‘maverick and rebel’ and a ‘really kinetic guy’.
Fans are not happy
The news that Dumbledore won’t be clearly represented as a gay character immediatley reverberated among fans.
And they are not happy.
Warning: Some of these tweets and reactions contain offensive language.
dumbledore: gay but make sure nobody can tell pic.twitter.com/zzAjtAi36Y
— gabe bergado (@gabebergado) January 31, 2018
Can’t roll my eyes hard enough at “I think the fans are already aware of that” as a cheap way out of letting a gay character be visibly gay https://t.co/bfKpoPPAIO pic.twitter.com/9KlBhBpeOW
— Caroline Framke (@carolineframke) January 31, 2018
Fans also aren’t happy with Rowling’s handling of the situation. She initially revealed Dumbledore’s sexuality after all the Harry Potter books came out.
Therefore, Rowling never explicitly wrote or represented him as a gay character in the series. Fans were hoping this would change with the new movies.
JK Rowling made a huge deal out of announcing Dumbledore was gay after she was done actually writing Harry Potter. Now, given the chance to write new Dumbledore stories with the Fantastic Beasts movies, his sexuality will … still not be explicit https://t.co/Tv8mjckAwl
— Christian Holub (@cmholub) January 31, 2018
LRT: oh FOR FUCK’S SAKE. I know I should be past being disappointed in JK Rowling and the HP/FB franchise, but come the fuck ON
— Angie J. Han (@ajhan) January 31, 2018
At a press conference a couple years back, Rowling told fans to ‘watch this space’ regarding the exploration of Dumbledore’s sexuality. Now that’s causing disappointment and resentment.
we DID “watch this space” and she just showed us what was in it. which was fucking nothing.
pic.twitter.com/B7JTZomgJ8
— Angie J. Han (@ajhan) January 31, 2018
JK Rowling doing the absolute bare minimum and nothing more pic.twitter.com/uJedaoCQez
— Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane) January 31, 2018
A franchise mired in controversy
Harry Potter fans have expressed disappointment in the new movie franchise before.
Many were angry with Depp’s casting because of his history of alleged abuse against his ex-wife Amber Heard. When Rowling defended the casting, they let their thoughts be known.
For her part, Heard also gave a statement, setting the record straight.
The Crimes of Grindelwald hits theaters on 16 November.
