'Fantastic Beasts 3': First Reviews Claim Mads Mikkelsen Is Better Than Johnny Depp

The premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore presents a novelty regarding its villain, the magician Grindelwald. It will no longer be played by Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp, but Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round, Vigilante) will take his place in this new installment.

Although the film collects a lukewarm number according to Rotten Tomatoes of 59% positive reviews, most reviews agree that Mikkelsen delivers a better version of the character than Depp. Let's remember that the actor from The Young Scissorhands had given life to the Machiavellian magician in the film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, but was later removed from the new installment by Warner Bros. The reason? The defamation trial conducted by the English newspaper The Sun for the complaint of gender-based violence filed by his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

That's why they had to find a replacement for that role and they managed to find in the actor who also played the villain in Casino Royale the perfect performer to replace him. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Mikklesen stated that replacing Depp was “complicated” because “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.”

But it seems that for critics there would be no conflict with regard to this change of actor, quite the contrary. Praise never stops coming up. “Mikkelsen gets into the role of Grindelwald so naturally that it's easy to forget that Depp ever played the character,” they reported from the publication Insider. “With Depp, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to follow a magician who comically seemed like another strange invention from the collection of eccentric characters that the actor has played over the years. In contrast, Mikkelsen plays Grindelwald with a soft and charming charisma that convinces you why someone would be seduced by this handsome and handsome magician, and be tricked into fighting a war for him,” they concluded.

For its part, the English newspaper The Guardian also praised the work of Mikkelsen who “offers a more subtle and insidious performance than Depp's”, while from The Telegraph they assured that the actor, who was nominated for an Oscar last year for his role in Another Round, “should have been chosen from the beginning”.

Tomris Laffly of the A.V. Club calls Mikkelsen “a dynamic alternative to Depp's stone façade”. The Times also praised the actor in front of Depp's installment. “Mikkelsen adds a new layer of threat to the character, but it also suggests a believably torrid romantic story with Dumbledore.”

In USA Today they stated that: “While Depp's version, essentially playing Grindelwald as a strange cult leader with wild hair, was fine, Mikkelsen's version feels more dangerous, as he exerts public charm as a manipulative and likeable man of the people, while hiding his ruthless cruelty inherent.” The film opens in Latin America on April 14.

Meanwhile, Depp's career is in low and for now he has only one project in his hands. He will play Louis XV in a new film about the king who ruled the fate of France for 59 years. This film implies Depp's return to the cinema since 2020: his last work was The Photographer of Minamata, a film about the life of war reporter W. Eugene Smith, which was released in the United States, in very few theaters, in December 2021.

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