Fantastic Beasts 2: Producer David Heyman on what to expect from Jude Law's Dumbledore

'One of the reasons we chose Jude is he has many of the qualities we find in Dumbledore in the Potter films'

Fantastic Beasts producer David Heyman has detailed what to expect from Jude Law's interpretation of Albus Dumbledore.

Law is set to play a younger version of the Hogwarts headmaster in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which is released in cinemas late next year.

In the original film series, Dumbledore was played by the late Richard Harris. Michael Gambon took over the role after Harris' death in 2002.

The first image of Law as Dumbledore was released earlier on 16 November along with a brief video teaser.

"One of the reasons we chose Jude is he has many of the qualities we find in Dumbledore in the Potter films," Heyman told Entertainment Weekly.

"He’s got authority, he’s got a twinkle in his eye, he’s sometimes a bit elliptical. So you have that but also have this youthful energy and jubilance.

"[He] brings that twinkle, mischief, authority, and power, but at the same time brings far more youthful energy to the film."

The Crimes Of Grindelwald is the second instalment in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, which will see Eddie Redmayne's character Newt Scamander team up with his former professor to stop the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald [Johnny Depp].

While reactions to the first images from the upcoming film were mostly positive, there was upset over the reappearance of Depp as Grindelwald.

In 2016, Depp reached a settlement with his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, over allegations of domestic abuse. The pair acknowledged in a joint statement that their relationship had been volatile, but neither intended to cause the other emotional or physical harm.

However fans have accused Warner Bros. and those working on the Fantastic Beasts franchise of ignoring Depp's controversial past.

Ezra Miller, Katherine Waterston and Zoë Kravitz will also star in the film, which is due out in cinemas on 16 November, 2018.