Fantastic Beasts Director Says Dumbledore Has 'Sensual Moments' With Grindelwald in Sequel

​​Harry Potter director David Yates skirted controversy a few months back when he said in an interview that the young version of Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald would not be "explicitly gay." This infuriated fans who had been expecting Dumbledore's sexuality to be canonically addressed for the first time since author J.K. Rowling pushed him out of the closet.

However, Yates has now walked back his previous comments, and recently clarified to ​Empire that Dumbledore will have "sensual moments of him and the young Grindelwald" in the film. ​If the trailers for the film are anything to go by, this will take the form of a fantasy sequence in the mystical Mirror of Erised. The trailers depict Dumbledore unveiling the magical mirror and seeing visions of both a young and old Grindelwald in the reflection.

In the same statement, Yates also took the time to try and defend his earlier remarks. "In that earlier interview, I didn’t say Dumbledore’s not gay. He is. This part of this huge narrative that [Rowling] is creating doesn’t focus on his sexuality, but we’re not airbrushing or hiding it," he explained.

"The story [of their romance] isn’t there in ​this particular movie but it’s clear in what you see … that he is gay. [The movie] is about other things, fundamentally, but the story of Grindelwald and Dumbledore, going forward, that is the story," Yates continued.

The highly anticipated sequel hits theaters November 16, 2018.