The Fantastic Beasts franchise made the bold decision to drop Johnny Depp as Grindelwald by asking the actor to resign from the role, and there’s already been a huge wave of backlash from fans. People were supporting the 57 year-old after he lost his latest court battle, and they blasted Disney when the studio decided to move forward on two Pirates of the Caribbean movies without him. As such, Warner Bros. should be bracing themselves for some heavy criticism.
After all, there’s an air of double standards about the whole thing, but with the majority of the issues between Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard focusing on accusations of spousal abuse, all parties need to tread a fine line. Of course, Heard is set to return as Mera in Aquaman 2, and J.K. Rowling is still heavily involved in the production of Fantastic Beasts 3 despite incurring the wrath of the internet on several occasions this year, so it appears that Depp is the one that’s been made to suffer.
Petitions have now been launched in an effort to reinstate him as Grindelwald, even though we all know they never work, but there’s also a groundswell of support gathering behind Colin Farrell returning to the Wizarding World. Having played Percival Graves in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, his character has a place in the mythology already that could be easily retconned, and you can check out some of the reactions from fans below.
Question… Can we see Colin Farrell return instead? He original played Grindelwald and was great. pic.twitter.com/pxvxrsoqk1
— Ben Rolph / TheDCTVshow 🇩🇪 🇬🇧 (@TheDCTVshow) November 6, 2020
https://twitter.com/MikeyClewer/status/1324755368652771331?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1324755368652771331%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Ffantastic-beasts-3-gellert-grindelwald-recasting-colin-farrell%2F
May I suggest Colin Farrell? https://t.co/n5lGRmv44T pic.twitter.com/qBOPi4UbA7
— ahmad (@thisisnotahmad) November 6, 2020
I bet they wish they'd just stuck with Colin Farrell now. https://t.co/VX61EfSeIQ
— Mathew Buck (@FB_BMB) November 6, 2020
In other news, Colin Farrell is like… pic.twitter.com/dJU9ZmQupx
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) November 6, 2020
🕯 Colin Farrell as Grindelwald 🕯https://t.co/LlmMZH5vGm
— alias (@itsjustanx) November 6, 2020
In an alternate reality, I'd be rejoicing over Johnny Depp's Fantastic Beasts exit and campaigning to bring back Colin Farrell, but since I'm never giving JK Rowling another cent, I'm over here like: pic.twitter.com/JL9Bx8aSsl
— Jamie Jirak (@JamieCinematics) November 6, 2020
No lol. Colin Farrell was Graves, who Grindelwald was pretending to be. There’s no way to explain Colin into the role of Grindelwald. pic.twitter.com/JpDTMthBbX
— Mesi (@mesidotcom) November 6, 2020
Remember when Colin Farrell was in the first one as the same character and they could have avoided all of this by just… sticking with him https://t.co/eMbL1kfTFY
— Carlos Alonzo Morales (@CarlosAlonzoM) November 6, 2020
oh shit wait johnny depp is out of fantastic beasts? can we get colin farrell back? nothing against depp (unless allegations are true) but i preferred farrell in the role of antagonist. maybe i’d actually watch the rest of the movies if he was back. also fuck j.k. rowling 🤗
— darkoedes (@darkoedes) November 6, 2020
https://twitter.com/kowalskibakes/status/1324784758908440578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1324784758908440578%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Ffantastic-beasts-3-gellert-grindelwald-recasting-colin-farrell%2F
https://twitter.com/terrencemalikk/status/1324766243006668802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1324766243006668802%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Ffantastic-beasts-3-gellert-grindelwald-recasting-colin-farrell%2F
Of course, Farrell might not want to get involved in the increasingly troubled Fantastic Beasts 3, and it looks like the fates are currently conspiring against a spinoff series that was struggling to retain much enthusiasm or optimism from the audience even before the latest batch of setbacks. But regardless of what happens, it’ll be interesting to see how WB proceeds from here.