Mads Mikkelsen has hinted Johnny Depp could return to the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

The Danish actor replaced Depp in the role of Gellert Grindelwald following the latter’s highly-publicised legal battle with Amber Heard. However, with Depp winning the court case, Mikkelsen has suggested he could now make a comeback.

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Speaking at the Sarajevo Film Festival, in which he received an honorary award for his contribution to film, Mikkelsen addressed his concerns about replacing Depp in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore.

“It was very intimidating,” he said. “Obviously, well, now the course has changed – he won the suit, the court [case] – so let’s see if he comes back. He might.

He continued: “I’m a big fan of Johnny. I think he’s an amazing actor. I think he did a fantastic job. Having said that, I could not copy it. There’s there was no way I could just copy it, because it’s so much him. It would be creative suicide.

“So, we had to come up with something else, something that was mine, and build a bridge between him and me.

“So, yes, it was intimidating. His fans were very, very sweet, but they were also very stubborn. I didn’t interact too much with them, but I could understand why they had their hearts broken.”

In June, Depp was awarded $10million (£8million) in compensatory damages and $5million in punitive damages after he sued Heard for defamation regarding a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, where she wrote about being a survivor of domestic violence.

The piece did not explicitly mention Depp by name, though his lawyers argued that it falsely implied she was sexually and physically abused by him during their marriage.

Heard was also awarded $2million (£1.5million) after the jury found that Depp had defamed her through his attorney.