Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.
Credence Barebone and Percival Graves in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
Warning: This post contains spoilers for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," J.K. Rowling's new "Harry Potter" spin-off movie set in 1926 New York, closes pretty neatly, but there are still some lingering questions.
One is the fate of Credence Barebone. In the film, Credence is an orphan adopted the leader of the Second Salemers, a group of No-Majs (non-wizarding folk) who believe magic exists and want to destroy it.
Percival Graves, the head auror (magical law enforcement officer) of MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), enlists Barebone to help him find an Obscurial, a young witch or wizard who's been infected with a magical virus called an Obscurus, and can cause immense damage if harnessed correctly.
Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.
Credence is a bit of a mysterious dude.
In the third act of the movie, we find out that Barebone himself is an Obscurial. (Graves, for his part, also turns out to have a hidden identity). He loses control, and turns into a big, tendril-y cloud that destroys a lot of the city.
At the end of a big showdown in Manhattan's City Hall subway station, it appears that MACUSA's aurors destroyed the Obscurus, exploding it - and Barebone, who's serving as the Obscurial host body - into wisps of nothingness.
But there's a small moment that indicates Credence, in some form, may still be alive.
It's during the conversation between Newt Scamander, the movie's protagonist, and Madam Picquery, the MACUSA president, about making New York City forget the whole magical catastrophe with the Obscurial ever happened. Scamander notices a small part of the Obscurus, survived, floating out of a hole in the subway station. Here's how it's described in the screenplay:
As Newt follows Madam Picquery's gaze, he sees a tendril of black matter, a small part of the Obscurus, floating down through the roof. Unnoticed by anyone else, it eventually floats up and away, trying to reconnect with its host.
If it's trying to "reconnect with its host," then Credence might still be around!
Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros. I'm not a huge fan of the haircut, to be honest.
If you're still unsure, "Fantastic Beasts" producer David Heyman pretty much confirmed Credence will be back.
Heyman told New York journalists the movie originally had a deleted scene showing Credence alive, and leaving New York. Heyman also said that Credence and Grindelwald will be "main players" in the series. Here's how part of the exchange went, as recorded by CinemaBlend:
We actually had a scene, which we cut, which was Credence going to a boat, to get on a boat somewhere else. But we cut that, because we didn't want to have it be such an, 'Ahhh, here we go.'
So, what was that scene kind of like?
Him getting on a boat, maybe a boat with Newt, maybe not, and heading off out of New York.
So, there you have it, it looks like Credence will be back.
There's still the question of Credence's sister, Chastity, as well as Modesty, who Credence calls a sister but who isn't actually related to him. What happens to them? Do they have magical abilities? Will we see them in future installments of "Fantastic Beasts"? We'll have to wait to find out.