Fantastic Beasts: 9 Questions To Answer in the Next Film

Warning: This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themwas a solid debut for the latest serialized story in the Harry Potter universe, but, while some of its plot points were resolved by the movie’s end, Fantastic Beastsis obviously setting up some major story arcs for the series’ run of five films. This means that we had plenty of burning questions leaving the theater. Here are our nine most pressing…

Is Credence really dead?

Did they really kill off Ezra Miller? Dude’s The Flash. You can’t get rid of him that easily. Though it seemed that after the MACUSA threw their curses, poor, confused Credence (and the obscuras he couldn’t totally control) were dead, but the film definitely leaves the door open for a miraculous/magical resurrection of Credence. (Something tells me this decision might go hand and hand with Miller’s The Flash filming schedule.)

Update: It seems that we already have an answer to this question. David Yates told Cinema Blend that, originally, there was a scene at the end of Fantastic Beaststhat saw Credence alive and well and boarding a boat out of New York. Sounds like we might be seeing more of the Obscurial moving forward…

What happened to the real Graves?

At the end of Fantastic Beasts, we find out that Percival Graves is really Gellert Grindelwald in disguise. Though the topic is never specifially addressed, it seems likely that there is a real Graves whose identity Grindelwald stole. Fans of Harry Potter will know this is a classic Rowling move, i.e. when Barty Crouch, Jr. impersonated Mad Eye Moody and taught a whole year as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts before he was found out in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

In the Crouch case, Crouch Jr. had kept the real Moody as a captive in a magically-enhanced trunk so he had a fresh supply of Moody’s hair for Polyjuice Potion. Did Grindelwald do something similar with Graves or did he kill Graves and assume his identity in a way other than Polyjuice Potion? This remains to be seen. Thus, it remains to be seen if Colin Farrell will return for future Fantastic Beastsmovies.

Does Jacob remember anything?

Fantastic Beastschoses a very interesting scene to end on: Jacob’s face as he sees Queenie for the first time following the presumed erasure of his memory. Now, Jacob is a friendly guy who was enthralled by Queenie the first time he met her in the film, so that smile he gives doesn’t necessarily mean he remembers any of their shared adventures (or that shared kiss). But… what if he does? We’ll have to wait until the next film in the trilogy to see if Jacob remembers anything (Jacob better be in it) and, if not, if there is a way to reverse the effects of the Swooping Evil’s venom. Perhaps a Pensieve might be involved?

Isn’t there an easier way for a wizard to traverse the Atlantic?

Did Newt seriously take a steamliner in his adventures around the world because that sounds tedious for a wizard. Has the international wizarding community not yet worked out international portkeys? Does magic progress at a similar rate to technology? Does Newt just really love weeks-long ocean travel? How will this affect Tina and Newt’s transatlantic romance? I need to know.

What happened to Modesty?

Maybe no one else cares about Credence’s red herring of a sister, but that girl has been through a lot and she just lost her entire terrible family. I really hope the MACUSA stepped up on this one and found Modesty a nice home and therapist moving forward. I’m worried.

How does Grindelwald escape?

We know that Grindelwald has to break out of MACUSA custody sooner rather than later, right? He has a whole era of magical fascism to bring about. At the very least, Grindelwald has to be out by 1945 because that is the year he and Dumbledore face off in the one of the most epic wizarding battles of all time, but something tells me he will slip the noose before then. 

Where did Newt get his wand?

We know that Newt was expelled from Hogwarts for endangering fellow classmates with a magical beast. The same thing happened to Hagrid. The thing is, when this happened to Hagrid, his wand was snapped. Hagrid was forced to use magic discreetly with the aid of his totally normal and definitely not wand-infused umbrella. So why is Newt allowed his wand and free-range of his magic? Did the policy change between when Newt was expelled and when Hagrid was expelled? Or does Newt just not care?

What’s the deal with Newt’s brother?

(OK, you caught me. That’s Eddie Redmayne’s real life brother, but just go with it.)

We get a brief mention of Newt’s brother in the scene involving the gathering of international wizards. Apparently, he was a war hero. It would have been great to get a little more backstory on this as it probably would have informed Newt’s character a bit more, but perhaps that will come in future installments? We’d like to know more about just how Newt’s bro gained international acclaim, as well as what Newt’s relationship with his brother is like. You know, if you’re taking requests, J.K. Rowling.

Does the MACUSA really execute people that easily?

Um, the MACUSA moved really quickly from interrogation to execution when it came to punishing Newt and Tina for the beasts that escaped from Newt’s case. We now know that Graves was really Grindelwald in disguise, so I guess that makes sense, but everyone else at MACUSA seemed to go along with it. Is this typical behavior for Aurors in America? Because that’s really scary.

Did you have any burning questions after watching Fantastic Beasts? Share them in the comments below…