The director of the new Fantastic Beasts movie, The Crimes of Grindelwald, has provoked indignation from fans after an interview with Entertainment Weekly revealed that Albus Dumbledore’s sexuality will not be directly referenced in the upcoming film.
When asked if the new movie will make it clear that the character is gay, Yates answered: “Not explicitly, but I think all the fans are aware of that. He had a very intense relationship with Grindelwald when they were young men. They fell in love with each other’s ideas, and ideology and each other.”
Fans were looking forward to seeing Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s relationship explored in the new movie since Rowling revealed the character was gay over a decade ago, and that he was in love with Grindelwald. The lack of reference to Dumbledore’s sexuality on top of the controversial casting of Johnny Depp has left fans pretty peeved:
jkr: dumbledore is gay lol
fans: okay but u didn't put it in the source material
jkr: i know lol
*ten years later*
fans: okay you've got a chance to put it in canon now
jkr: hehe lol i know
fans: so are you gonna
jkr: no lol— lucy (@_avasharpe) January 31, 2018
If you're not going to make Young Dumbledore's sexuality explicitly clear in Fantastic Beasts then why even bother with this film at all tbh?
— Jill Pantozzi ♿ (@JillPantozzi) January 31, 2018
"Let's randomly turn Fantastic Beasts into a five-part Dumbledore/Grindelwald story without acknowledging that the ENTIRE reason the Dumbledore/Grindelwald relationship is complex is because they were in love." pic.twitter.com/0LqxGbVLY5
— Caroline Siede (@CarolineSiede) January 31, 2018
JKR *opening closet door, gestures*: Look, it's Dumbledore, he's gay!
Dumbledoor *tries to step out of the closet*
JKR: pic.twitter.com/PnICoNowa2— heidi heilig (@heidiheilig) January 31, 2018
What was the point in mentioning that Dumbledore is gay if it literally is not included in the books, Harry Potter movies or Fantastic Beasts. What a wasted oppertunity to create more diverse characters.
— leslie.jpeg 🌱 (@LeslieFizzy) February 1, 2018
Fantastic Beasts 2 and Dumbledore isn't gay and also Johnny Depp isn't in it but it still has Jude Law and takes place in England and Cameron Diaz house-swaps with Kate Winslet and actually it's The Holiday. just watch The Holiday instead
— Rachel Paige (@rachmeetsworld) January 31, 2018
Listen, we all knew it was time to let go of #FantasticBeasts when they doubled down on Depp — that Yates confirmed they're going to sidestep Dumbledore being gay in the film means JK and her team have fucked up huge and it's time to ignore this franchise completely. Let it die. pic.twitter.com/Jj61G7CUkM
— Alicia Lutes (@alicialutes) January 31, 2018
Rowling has since clapped back at fans for directing their outrage at her in a single tweet that says it all:
Being sent abuse about an interview that didn't involve me, about a screenplay I wrote but which none of the angry people have read, which is part of a five-movie series that's only one instalment in, is obviously tons of fun, but you know what's even *more* fun? pic.twitter.com/Rj6Zr8aKUk
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 31, 2018
Via Twitter
