‘Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them’ Featurette: Meet J.K. Rowling’s New Hero
In some ways, the setting ofFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themshould seem familiar. We’ve already spent eight movies in that universe, after all. But this prequel unfolds 70 years and an ocean away fromHarry Potter. And as a newFantastic Beastsfeaturette reveals, the American wizarding world of the 1920s is something else entirely.
Oh sure, the wands and the spells and the CG creatures are still there. But when Porpetina (Katherine Waterston) asks Newt (Eddie Redmayne), “Do you knowanythingabout the wizarding community in America?” she could be talking to us. And the answer would be “No, but we can’t wait to learn.” Feast your eyes on tons of new footage in the latestFantastic Beastsfeaturette below.
While theHarry Pottermovies focused mostly on stories and conflicts within the wizarding world,Fantastic Beastsseems to have one foot in our real world.Dan Fogler’s character Jacob is the first Muggle (or “No-Maj,” as we Americans apparently call them) character in theHarry Potterfranchise, and Porpetina and Newt’s conversation in the video suggests the American magical community doesn’t look too kindly upon non-magical people.
Rowling likens Newt to some of her other famous characters, saying, “My heroes are always people who feel themselves to be set apart, stigmatized, or othered.” But Newt feels quite different from the likes of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Unlike them, he seems a bit awkward, a bit shy, a bit less eager to throw himself into dazzling heroics. In other words, more Hufflepuff than Gryffindor.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemopensNovember 18.Colin Farrell,Carmen Ejogo,Ezra Miller,Ron Perlman,Jon Voight,Gemma Chan,Samantha Morton, andAlison Sudolalso star.David Yatesdirected from an original script byJ.K. Rowling.
