This ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Deleted Scene Explains A Lot About Grindelwald & Credence

Even though his name is right there in the title of the movie, fans did not learn nearly enough about Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. With very little dialogue from Grindelwald and and little insight into his motives, many fans left the movie wondering what they were supposed to make of the villainous wizard. For fans who still feel in the dark about Grindelwald, a newly released Fantastic Beasts deleted scene explains a lot about Grindelwald and his relationship with Credence. Warning: Spoilers for the Fantastic Beasts movies follow.

For those who need a refresher: In the first Fantastic Beasts movie, Grindelwald seeks out Credence Barebone to use in his fight against Dumbledore. But, it's not entirely clear why he needs Credence in particular. Credence is powerful, but he's also untrained. There are many other wizards who Grindelwald could easily enlist. So why Credence? Well, the deleted scene spells out one key detail about Grindelwald's fixation on Credence, and it all has to do with Grindelwald's ability to see into the future.

In the deleted scene, which is now available on the Crimes of Grindelwald Blu-Ray, Dumbledore explains to Newt that he sent him to New York because he knew Grindelwald would be there in search of an obscurial. Dumbledore tells Newt:

I knew Grindelwald would try to catch Credence. He had a vision you see, many years ago, in which an obscurial killed the man he fears above all others.

Dumbledore goes on to explain that he sent Newt to New York to find Credence and stop Grindelwald from using him as a weapon. Since author J.K. Rowling previously revealed that Grindelwald is a seer, fans know that he has the ability to see the future. So it totally checks out that Grindelwald could have had a vision that told him to seek out the obscurial to use in his battle against Dumbledore.

Audiences know that Grindelwald cannot battle Dumbledore himself because of a blood pact the two made when they were teenagers. So Grindelwald needed someone else to fight his battle for him, and his vision told him it that someone else should be Credence.

The deleted scene also sheds light on why Dumbledore sent Newt in particular to go retrieve Credence. In the first Fantastic Beasts movie, Newt was successful in removing an obscurus from a young girl. So since Dumbledore knew he was sending Newt to deal with an obscurial based on Grindelwald's vision, he knew Newt's previous experience would be helpful.

In addition to this deleted scene, fans also recently learned some more new Grindelwald facts. J.K. Rowling revealed that Grindelwald and Dumbledore had an intense relationship in another special feature on the Crimes of Grindelwald Blu-Ray. She said, "It was passionate, and it was a love relationship."

While Rowling provides some additional character insight with that little tidbit, the Grindelwald/Dumbledore relationship doesn't show up in any deleted scenes like Grindelwald's vision does. But, that isn't stopping fans from already trying to look for more answers about Grindelwald. Perhaps the next batch of Fantastic Beasts deleted scenes will offer even more insight into this super-complicated, magical relationship.