The trailer for the third film in the Fantastic Beasts series has been released, giving fans their first look at Mads Mikkelsen's evil wizard Gelert Grindelwald.
Danish actor Mikkelsen is taking over from Johnny Depp, who had to bow out of the Harry Potter prequel series after losing his high-profile libel case against The Sun last year.
Check out the magical trailer below:Set for release next April, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore takes place several years after the events of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The movie follows Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander and Jude Law's Albus Dumbledore as they prepare to take down Mikkelsen's evil sorcerer.
The action-packed trailer promises the return of familiar faces and places, with the cast of the previous two movies visiting Hogwarts and the room of requirement.
Alongside Redmayne and Law, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, and Jessica Williams will all be reprising their roles. Meanwhile, Harry Potter veteran David Yates (who directed the first two Fantastic Beasts movies and the last four Potter films) is returning to direct the third installment.
"The world as we know it is coming undone. Grindelwald is pulling it apart with hate," Jude Law's Dumbledore announces in the trailer, which then introduces us to the main characters: "a magizoologist, his indispensable assistant, a wizard descended from a very old family, a schoolteacher and a muggle."
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who penned the first two Fantastic Beasts films, co-wrote wrote the Secrets of Dumbledore screenplay with long-time collaborator Steve Kloves.
Mikkelsen was one of several actors touted to replace Depp as the series' antagonist. Best known for portraying bad guys, the Danish actor played Bond villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale and Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the TV show Hannibal.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he spoke about the challenges of stepping into Depp's shoes.
"There has to be a bridge between what Johnny did and what I'm going to do. And at the same time, I also have to make it my own," he said.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is due to arrive in cinemas on 15 April 2022.