The third 'Fantastic Beasts' movie finally addresses Dumbledore's sexuality front and center — nearly 15 years after J.K. Rowling first revealed he's gay
In , "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling made a remark that would echo in the franchise's fandom for years to come. Speaking at Carnegie Hall that year, she said that she had "always mind of Dumbledore as gay" — and that the relationship between him and his teenage comrade Gellert Grindelwald had been romantic.
Since then, Dumbledore's sexuality has only explicitly existed outside of any of the franchise's main properties, and Rowling's words had never been confirmed on screen. She hinted in that the character's queerness would play a role in the "Fantastic Beasts" films, telling reporters to "watch this space," Time Magazine reported at the time.
Almost fifteen years after Rowling first confirmed Dumbledore's sexuality, it's finally made it to the big screen.
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."
'The Secrets of Dumbledore' opens with Dumble
Fantastic Beasts 3 Makes Dumbledore Gay: Why Did It Accept So Long?
WARNING! Contains SPOILERS for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledorefinally confirmed Albus Dumbledore's (Jude Law) sexuality, but it's unclear why exactly the Wizarding World took 15 years to display this on screen. Fantastic Beasts 3 saw Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) rise to dominance and then fall once more as Dumbledore and his team curb his ascension to Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. But most importantly, the movie explored Dumbledore and Grindelwald's backstory, and the (other) Dumbledore family secrets, including Credence/Aurelius (Ezra Miller) existence Aberforth's (Richard Coyle) long-lost son.
Fantastic Beasts 3 opens with a scene that clarifies Dumbledore and Grindelwald's past and their current motivations. When Grindelwald reminds Dumbledore he once supported him in his pursuit of absolute power over Muggles, Dumbledore replies, "I was in love with you." He thus makes clear that what they had in was a romanti
Spoiler alert: The following display discusses plot details from the new "Harry Potter" spinoff movie "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."
Nearly 15 years after J.K. Rowling revealed Dumbledore is gay, "Harry Potter" fans finally saw that backstory play out onscreen in the third prequel spinoff "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."
"Harry Potter" Professor Albus Dumbledore (played by a bearded Jude Law) had an intense meeting over tea in the movie's opening scene with his former love-turned-archfoe Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen, who took the roleover from Johnny Depp). Later, the two face off in a long-teased wand battle.
The social media reaction from fans still on the "Fantastic Beasts" train was varied. "What's the secret?? That he's gay??? We already knew that, bro," wrote Twitter user @animeberet.
"I treasure so much how they're handling Dumbledore being same-sex attracted Hope we see more," wrote @PotterxFlash.
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The studio behind the upcoming “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” says it agreed to China’s demands to remove all LGBTQ references from the production to secure its free there.
After reports surfaced that Warner Bros. caved to Chinese censors and excised certain lines of dialogue from the “Harry Potter” spin-off sequel, the studio confirmed that “minor edits” have indeed been made to the film, which was released in China this past weekend.
The censored lines ― “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love” ― point to to the longstanding value between the wizards Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen), who carried on a romantic relationship as teens. The exchange marks the first time the queer romance has been directly addressed within any “Harry Potter”-related book or clip in the 15 years since author J.K. Rowling revealed that Dumbledore is gay.
In a utterance, the studio insisted that the “spirit of the film remains intact,” saying the runtime of “Secrets” has only been shortened by a few seconds for