In 2020, after starring in two of the Fantastic Beasts movies, Johnny Depp was asked by Warner Bros. to resign from his role as the antagonistic wizard Grindelwald. Following controversies surrounding Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard, WB saw it as the logical thing to drop the actor.
However, as Depp seeks to make his comeback in Hollywood, he's looking to shed these controversies. Speaking with The Telegraph, he spoke about being told to resign from the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
"It literally stopped in a millisecond, like, while I was doing the movie," Depp said. "They said we'd like you to resign. But what was really in my head was they wanted me to retire."
Mads Mikkelsen took on the role of Grindelwald for 2022's Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. This was the final film in the franchise, which was meant to have more entries at one point.