Jude Law will play young Albus Dumbledore in the next “Fantastic Beasts” installment.

The iconic wizard was played by two actors in the “Harry Potter” films, beginning with Richard Harris. After Harris’ death in 2002, Michael Gambon inherited the role.

Law, a two-time Academy Award nominee, will portray Dumbledore long before the wizard became the headmaster at Hogwarts and Potter’s mentor. Set decades before the original “Harry Potter” films and books, Dumbledore is still serving as the wizarding school’s transfiguration professor in “Fantastic Beasts 2.”

J.K. Rowling, who has said Dumbledore is gay, has previously teased that the five-part prequel franchise of “Fantastic Beasts” will explore a more “troubled” time in Dumbledore’s life. The author said, “We’ll see him at that formative period of his life. As far as his sexuality is concerned, watch this space.”

Production on the next “Fantastic Beasts” film is to begin this summer, with a release scheduled for November 2018. Last year’s “Fantastic Beasts” grossed $813 worldwide.

— Associated Press