Mads Mikkelsen confirmed to replace Johnny Depp in 'Fantastic Beasts 3'

Mads Mikkelsen will officially step into the shoes of the villain wizard Gellert Grindelwald in "Fantastic Beasts 3" after Johnny Depp resigned from the franchise.

Warner Bros. confirmed rumours of the actor's casting in the film in an official statement released on Wednesday. Deadline was the first to break the news that the "Hannibal" star was the top choice to replace Depp after the latter lost his libel case against The Sun in London High Court's ruling earlier in November.

"Fantastic Beasts 3" is currently in production at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in the U.K. Mikkelsen was director David Yates' choice to play Grindelwald as he is a fan of the actor. Prior to the confirmation, the Danish actor even hinted at his involvement with the film when he did not outright deny the rumours. Instead, he said that he is just waiting for the call that he got the part.

Despite the quick turn-around in finding a new actor to play Grindelwald, fans are still hesitant to watch the movie without Depp. The studio asked him to resign from the franchise after the U.K. court agreed with The Sun that he was a "wife-beater" during his tumultuous marriage with ex-wife Amber Heard.

Their decision to let the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star go prompted netizens to boycott "Fantastic Beasts 3" and to further call for #JusticeforJohnnyDepp.

"I'm reconfirming my plans to boycott this franchise #JusticeForJohhnyDepp," one Twitter user wrote.

"I feel this won't be doing his career any favours. The movie was already blighted by various issues before WB decided, wrongly, to fire Depp whilst retaining Heard for Aquaman & then lied about their reasons. I certainly won't be watching this dumpster fire," another commented on news of Mikkelsen's casting.

"Nothing against this actor personally, but we've now lost all interest in @FantasticBeasts @wbpictures. We'll spend our money elsewhere. No Depp=No dollars. Removing Johnny Depp from the film killed it," one fan wrote.

Mikkelsen has yet to respond to his casting as Grindelwald in "Fantastic Beasts 3." He is expected to be in London soon to start shooting. Warner Bros. moved the film's release date to July 15, 2022 after Depp resigned.