Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander and the villainous Gellert Grindelwald (due to be portrayed for the first time by Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen following Johnny Depp's controversial departure) will go head-to-head in the Fantastic Beasts 3 finale, it has now been revealed. During a recent interview with Mikkelsen, these details of the movie's climactic wizard battle were teased, revealing that the actor battled Redmayne "for three weeks straight for the epic ending."

No doubt that this involved a lot of wand-waving while yelling various incantations at each other. While the idea of Fantastic Beasts 3 ending on a grand battle does not come as too much of a surprise, it is interesting that it will involve Newt Scamander facing off against Grindelwald, as opposed to Jude Law's master wizard, Dumbledore. The second movie in the franchise, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, was somewhat criticized for pushing Newt to the side lines, and it sounds like Fantastic Beasts 3 will rectify this, bringing Redmayne's character back to centre stage.

During the interview, Mads Mikkelsen also opened up about arriving on set in place of Johnny Depp, praising the cast for their efforts in making him feel so welcome. "I'm just this guy trying to fill out these shoes that somebody else has been wearing," Mikkelsen said. "It's difficult to come three months into shooting while taking over for someone like that. They did their best to make me feel at home, each knocking on my trailer door."

Fans of the Fantastic Beasts franchise were shocked to hear that Johnny Depp had been asked by Warner Bros. to step down from the role of the central villain. The intention had always been for Depp to play the role throughout the rest of the series, but this changed amid various allegations that have been levelled at the actor.

Mikkelsen has since offered some insight into his approach to taking over the role, stating that he does not intend to copy Depp's performance, and will make it his own. "Nobody's interested in me going in there and trying to copy anything, that would be creative suicide immediately, especially when it's been done before and masterfully," the actor said. "So everybody's expecting us to find a different path. Having said that, we need a bridge between what he did and what I'm gonna do, so those bridges you have to find together, whether it's a certain look, whether it's a certain attitude in certain situations, but you have to make it your own. Anything else would be plainly just creatively stupid."

While plot details for Fantastic Beasts 3 remain tightly under wraps, it will likely continue to build up to World War II and the wizarding war that runs parallel, with plans in place to make up to five movies in the franchise. Fantastic Beasts 3 stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, Jude Law as Dumbledore, Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald, Ezra Miller as Credence, Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein, Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski, and Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein. The project has faced several delays amid the ongoing global situation and is now scheduled to hit theaters on 15 July 2022. This comes to us from USA Today.