The Most Dangerous Thing in 'Fantastic Beasts’ Isn’t a Beast

There are dozens of beasts in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that magizoologist Newt Scamander deems extremely dangerous, but the deadliest thing in the film may not be a beast at all. Instead, it might be a mysterious entity known only as “the Obscurus.”

The Obscurus doesn’t appear in Newt’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book, and that might be because it’s not a creature, but some other kind of destructive magical force. We also know that there’s a rampaging force tearing up the streets of New York City, but it doesn’t appear to have a distinct form. Instead, it looks like a whirlwind of debris and energy. Could this be the Obscurus? And if so, what does it do?

We’ve already put forth a few theories on the Obscurus, but a featurette from last week’s IMAX event includes a new hint. Check it out here:

Here, we see new footage from inside of what looks like some kind of hearing at the MACUSA. We see a ghostly, indistinct projection of a man who appears to be dead, floating above the heads of those at the hearing. A woman asks Newt, “Do you know which of your creatures was responsible, Mr. Scamander?

But Newt replies, “Look at the marks. No creature did this.”

Is this the work of the Obscurus? If it’s that dangerous, but not in Newts book, it makes sense that the Obscurus could be the destructive non-beast we’ve seen in the trailers. What’s more, we know that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Newt’s book, not the film) was commissioned and later published in 1927, the year after the events of the film by Obscurus Books.

Curiouser and curiouser. We’ll know more about what the Obscurus is, where it came from, and what it’s after when Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them arrives in theaters on November 18.