This is why I think Percival Graves will be back.
1. Colin Farrell - who has admitted that, “If they asked me to say Graves won’t be back, I have to say he won’t be back.” (Someone, tell me where I saw this, just the other day. I want to quote the actual interview source and get the wording exactly right.) A simpler answer to the question of his return would have been, “No.” Clearly, he doesn’t like to lie to fans. Furthermore, not one single actor of anywhere near Colin Farrell’s calibre in the HP franchise made a mere one-movie appearance. Not one.
2. His name. We know how fond JKR is of playing with name meanings and mythology. Allow me to quote this about Percival, Knight of the Roundtable, from Wikipedia:
In the earliest story about him, he is connected to the Grail. In Chrétien’s Perceval, he meets the crippled Fisher King and sees a grail, not yet identified as “holy”, but he fails to ask a question that would have healed the injured king. Upon learning of his mistake he vows to find the Grail castle again and fulfill his quest […] Percival remained a major character and was one of only two knights (the other was Sir Bors) who accompanied Galahad to the Grail castle and completed the quest with him.
And then there’s this, re-quoted from the HP fandom wiki:
In French, the name Percival means “valley piercer; piercer of the valley; one who attacks through the valley”. In Greek, the name means “destroyer” and is related to Perseus, a hero of Greek mythology considered the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before Heracles.
3. Snape - JKR admitted years ago that he was her most hated character. I believe she also said he wasn’t going to have much of a role in the long run. What happened? Snape became the most popular HP character, and his role got bigger and more important as the story went on, with one book/movie essentially named after him. Why? Fandom loves him. And creators, even filthy rich ones, continue to want to be loved for their creations, even if it means having to back-pedal. I think she has a fair idea by now how pissed off fandom will be if she keeps Graves from us.
4. Promo Materials - We have relatively detailed info on Graves, more in fact than we had on several HP characters who made appearances throughout the series, more than on several other FB characters. Why bother, if he’s a one-off?
4. Costume Design - does this sound like a) a very temporary character’s look, and b) the costume for a man who’s just going to be wiped out by a mumbling albino freak?
“It was great making him this über-wizard character,” said Atwood. “I wanted him to feel powerful and to really have a costume that gave him presence and set him apart from the other people—so I exaggerated certain things, like the length of his boots and his shoulders. And I found this amazing piece of cashmere that was black, but it had a little bit of a metallic fleck—a metallic Lurex thread—in it [for his coat], which you don’t see in the movie. It wasn’t bling-y but it had a trace of shine to it. It was such a great weight, that he could move it, and it would flow with him and give him that power. He was happy with his costume. He wore it well and he enjoyed wearing it.”
5. Logic - JKR knows how to tell a thrilling tale. Could FB possibly do anything more thrilling than to have Credence and Graves combine forces to wreak vengeance for the clusterfuck Grindelwald has visited upon the two of them in particular? I think not. Also, it’s an established fact in Wizarding World canon that if you use Polyjuice Potion, the identity you assume must belong to a living person. That means the real Percival Graves is alive.
6. The character himself. He’s not just a random idiot auror. None of the magic done by Grindelwald disguised as him attracted anyone’s attention. Ergo, Graves is capable of feats far beyond the average wizard, like wandless magic, nonverbal magic, Occlumency, exceptional duelling abilities. Again, not exactly a pushover, and yet we’re meant to believe he’d just be killed by a wizard Newt can overpower with goo bondage?
7. Money. Even if JKR was to stubbornly refuse to pay the slightest attention to fandom, her accountant, her fellow producers, and everyone else who is going to be substantially better off due to Fantastic Beasts, will nag and harass her to do what will guarantee that fans continue to flock to every single installment. I know I, for one, will hang around for as long as Credence is ok, and there’s any hope of a returning Graves. Not beyond that point.
I rest my case. Being by nature a pessimist, this could, of course, be the one moment of foolish optimism in my life, but I don’t think so. And when you all see that I was right, I’ll be only too happy to keep repeating: I told you so! 😏
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