‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ Critics: Mads Mikkelsen Is Better Than Johnny Depp and ‘Should’ve Been Cast From the Start’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Although “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” is earning middling reviews from critics (it launched on Rotten Tomatoes with a 59% from 39 reviews), nearly every critic agrees Mads Mikkelsen is a vast improvement over Johnny Depp as the villainous wizard Grindelwald.

Depp played the character in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” but he was removed from the new film just one week into production.

Warner Bros. asked Depp to exit the movie following his libel case against The Sun. Mikkelsen was brought in to replace Depp.By taking over the role of Grindelwald, Mikkelsen becomes the primary antagonist of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise.

The actor told Entertainment Weekly that taking over from Depp was “tricky” because “there has to be a bridge between what Johnny did and what I’m going to do.