Twitter Is Really Unhappy That Johnny Depp Is Returning for the 'Fantastic Beasts' Sequel
Before Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, before Mark Schwahn and Louis C.K., it wasn’t impossible for allegations of sexual and domestic assault to have little impact on a powerful man’s career. It seemed like they skipped past the consequences of their actions and straight into the “second chance” or “redemptive” phases of their legacy.
In 2016, one of the year’s biggest Hollywood-adjacent stories was Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s divorce. It wrapped with Depp paying Heard $7 million and Heard—who had earlier filed for a restraining order against Depp and reportedly submitted a photo in court of her with a bruised eye—dropping her case against Depp alleging domestic violence.
In 2016, Depp appeared in Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass and Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, where he played the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. In 2017, he’s slated for 20th Century Fox’s Murder on the Orient Express and Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, along with four other films. His IMDb page lists three other movies in production and two others that have been announced. One of these includes 2018’s—and, once again, Disney’s—Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
At a time when production studios are reportedly entertaining cutting Kevin Spacey from House of Cards and severing ties with Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor, also under fire for alleged sexual misconduct, it’s not impossible to remove men who have been accused of physical, sexual, or emotional violence and abuse of their power from their projects from shows that center around them—and discuss, simultaneously, ways that those shows can still go on.
Which is why Twitter is really angry that Depp is still going to be in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The plot will reportedly focus on Depp’s character, the aforementioned Grindelwald, and last week the movie’s official Twitter account tweeted a look at the cast:
https://twitter.com/FantasticBeasts/status/931159964495708160
Almost immediately, users took to the “reply” feature to express their distaste that Depp remained in the cast picture.
Some pleaded for the return of Colin Farrell, who played a version of Grindelwald in the first Fantastic Beasts.
https://twitter.com/StephenSeanFord/status/931257981043277824
Others volunteered Jeff Goldblum…
https://twitter.com/ChrisLikesDinos/status/931240732261863424
…or the casting of Christopher Plummer (who replaced Kevin Spacey in the film All the Money in the World once allegations against him reached a fever pitch).
https://twitter.com/Captain_Faraday/status/931370554900152320
Some called on J.K. Rowling to exert her influence over the casting and get Depp out of the role.
Still others vowed to boycott the franchise:
https://twitter.com/CheeseNFeminism/status/931335433702735873
It’s pretty much summed up in this tweet, though:
Although it still seems unlikely Depp will be recast, his role in the movie is creating a lot of division among fans of the franchise. Given the raft of allegations against so many men in Hollywood—and the demand for consequences—it’ll be interesting to see how J.K. Rowling and those behind the film respond to the outcry.
Related Stories:
–J.K. Rowling Confirmed That There Will Be Five Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Movies
–Major New Plot Details About the Next ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Movie Are Here
–Young Pope to Play Young Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts Sequel