Warning: Spoilers ahead for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ ahead! Read at your own risk!
‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ left fans reeling with a twist ending. Star Ezra Miller has come forward to discuss the revelation the no one saw coming, that his character, Credence Barebone, is Aurelius Dumbledore, brother of Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law).
In an interview, Miller said:
“I was shocked, stunned, confused, petrificus totalus with wonder and fascination. And I still have a lot of questions for which I have no answers.”
Miller discovered the secret behind Credence’s identity during promotion for the first ‘Fantastic Beasts’ film in 2016. He revealed that knowing his character is a Dumbledore caused him to take a different approach this time around. He explained:
“Yes, on a certain, a very, very subtle level. This character is changing, going through physical changes in relation to the Obscurial, [with] which we know he has an unusual relationship. So as he changes, there’s an opportunity for me as an actor to look to five of my favorite performances of all time — the people I’ve seen play Albus and Aberforth. Shout out to all those incredible actors, and I’m thrilled to play the game that we’re now blood relations. It’s very fun. And there’s a funny connection to the name Aurelius given one of the actors who played Dumbledore.”
The film’s ending did not reveal whether Albus knows about his relation to Credence, and Miller revealed that he is in the dark about that as well, saying:
“We truly do not know. Jude knows. But he won’t tell you.”
Some Potterheads were not thrilled with this twist, as many were quick to point out all the ways in which the connection doesn’t make sense. However, Miller isn’t worried, as he knows Rowling wouldn’t make such a big move without a plan:
“Jo’s really good at that. She knows the mythology so well and I think she’s into confounding you for a moment and having a fan go, ‘wait that can’t make sense!’ and then showing you how things you thought couldn’t make sense make sense. I think she enjoys people not getting it for a second. She’s done it to us a bunch of times.”
When asked about the future of Credence, Miller says that while he’s “no Trelawney,” he gave a vague musing:
“If the question of the first film was what, and the question of this film was who, my prediction, if I’m making any, is that Aurelius’ question in the next film will be: why.”
While Credence will be exploring the why of his identity, Miller wants to make it clear how much more control the character has over his powers:
“When the Obscurus bursts out [in the first film] it also kills some of his foster siblings, and lots of people presumably got taken out in New York City when it mashed around. Here there’s one moment where they got attacked and Nagini is safe in that encounter. A tool like that is for focus and direction for preexisting magic. You think of channeling something down the waterways down a branch of wood. It feels like a metaphor for an artist: If you can survive your trauma, and then survive your survival of it, and then you can figure out a means for directing it, that’s power unknown on the face of the earth.”
Another unexpected turn of events from the film came when Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) defected to Grindelwald’s (Johnny Depp) side, seemingly leaving her friends and loved ones behind. Miller is excited to explore that storyline with Sudol, saying:
“Alison are I are so excited to be on the ambiguous villains side because the villain on a certain level is always right. The protagonist, on a certain level, has to maintain the status quo. That’s why we love villains because they come and try to shake things up. And then it’s about restoring the power and potency to doing good. And Jo does incredible work with that. She reminds that what’s better than being a violent idiot is being a smart thoughtful caring wonderful human.”
‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ is open in theaters now!
