Harry Potter fans, hold on to your broomsticks. Because author J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the sequel to 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, is about to take you on a ride that may change everything you know about the Potterverse.
In the latest issue of EW hyping Warner Bros.' fantasy's release next month, star Eddie Redmayne explains exactly how gamechanging Grindelwald is going to be in terms of foreshadowing events in Rowling's Harry Potter series and even possibly dropping one massive bombshell along the way.
"The script is labyrinthian," the actor, who reprises his role as famed Magizoologist Newt Scamander, told the magazine. "It’s like you’re going down this maze and Jo is weaving the stories together with such intricacy. Along the way these connections to Harry Potter and secrets are falling at your feet. And there is one…"
Might that be the long-rumored relationship between Jude Law's young Dumbledore and Grindelwald, played by Johnny Depp?
Redmayne couldn't say.
But the Oscar winner did add: "I got to the ending and my jaw dropped. There was one thing I didn't see coming."
One person who has seen the movie and confirmed his eye-popping reaction was cast member Dan Fogler, who returns as Newt's muggle sidekick Jason Kowalski and promised that the movie's climactic revelation will blow Potterphiles away.
"It reminds me a lot of The Empire Strikes Back," the thesp remarked. “The first movie is so positive. It’s sweet and lovely. But this time everybody is really put under fire. People are gonna see this like a 100 times just to get everything. They’re going to be going nuts that they have to wait for the next one."
Short of the outlandish prospect of Grindelwald being related to Harry, it's hard to figure exactly what big secret Rowling is hiding.
But Fogler's comments echo what he told fans at San Diego Comic-Con a few months back, noting then that "the good guys take a hit and the bad guys even the score in the most delicious way that leaves you wanting more."
The Crimes of Grindelwald picks up with Grindelwald having escaped from Auror custody and recruiting an army of followers with the Hitlerian goal of lording over not only the entire Wizarding World, but all of Muggledom as well. Dumbledore assigns Newt and company the dangerous mission of hunting him down and stopping him.
Of course, when last we left Kowalski in Fantastic Beasts, he had been obliviated so how he'd recall such a war brewing is another matter. But the latest installment will undoubtedly clear that up from the get-go.
Grindelwald will also shine some Lumos on Voldemort's favorite pet serpent and Horcrux, Nagini, who'll be played in the movie by Claudia Kim.
The South Korean actress gave a preview of what fans can expect from her character, whom she reveals suffers from a mysterious blood curse that will eventually make her reptilian form permanent. But not before she takes in Ezra Miller's fugitive Credence Barebone who's run off and joined the circus after seemingly dying in Beasts.
"She has powers that are yet to be explored," Kim told EW regarding Nagini.
Though she was quick to clarify, "I can't confirm that she has powers like wizards have. And she doesn't have a wand."
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald casts its spell in theaters on November 16.