Fantastic Beasts 2 Director Talks the Difference Between Voldemort and Grindelwald

Voldemort may have been the big bad wizard of the Harry Potter movies, but during the timeline of Fantastic Beasts, it's Grindelwald that everyone is watching out for. Director David Yates compares the two villains and clarifies the main difference between the two.

Talking to Empire (via Express), Yates explained:

"Grindelwald as a villain is quite unlike Voldemort… Voldemort was basically a thug. If you disagreed with him, he'd just kill you on the spot…The scary thing about Grindelwald is that if you disagree with him, within five minutes he'll have you agreeing with him… He's incredibly charming and convincing."

In The Deathly Hallows, we actually see Voldemort meeting Grindelwald asking him for the location of the Elder Wand, but I wouldn't be surprised if the two would run into each other in the Fantastic Beasts films. After all, we know that Tom Riddle is already very much alive in this time period; it's just a question of how close to being Voldemort he already is.

At best, we could be looking at a small cameo from Tom Riddle, but I wouldn't expect him to be already inept with the Dark Arts at this time. The way it looks, Fantastic Beasts is going to focus more on the adventures of Newt Scamander and his friends and trips to Hogwarts will be kept at the minimum.

Magizoologist Newt Scamander joins forces with young Albus Dumbledore to prevent the devious Gellert Grindelwald from raising pure-blood wizards to rule over all non-magical beings.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwaldhits theaters Nov. 16.

See Also: Fantastic Beasts 2: JK Rowling Teases Major Plot Twist For Credence