Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Ezra Miller 'joining film as possible baddie'

The Snape lookalike could play a rival to Redmayne's Newt Scamander

Actor Ezra Miller (Getty)

Ezra Miller is reported to be in early talks to star in JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them alongside Eddie Redmayne and Katherine Waterston.

The We Need to Talk About Kevin actor is allegedly being lined up to play a male supporting lead in Warner Bros’ Harry Potter spin-off.

Reports suggest he will either play Kredan, a character with magical powers who encounters protagonist Newt Scamander when he stops in New York, or Jacob, a secondary lead to Redmayne.

Details about Jacob’s character are scarce, but given Miller’s Snape-like looks it is reported he could be a villain or arch rival to Scamander.

Eddie Redmayne will play a starring role in the film as Newt Scamander (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Based on a 42-page textbook set for Hogwarts pupils published in 2001, Fantastic Beasts follows the adventures of Scamander, the author of the book, who dedicates his life to the search for magical creatures in an “extension” of Potter's fantastical world.

The film will begin in New York, seventy years before Harry Potter’s story begins.

Rowling has said the film, which she is writing the screenplay for, is “neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series”.

She has however hinted that Scamander will meet pupils who were educated at an American Hogwarts.

Katherine Waterson will star alongside Eddie Redmayne in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Getty Images)

Inherent Vice actress Waterston will play a witch called Porpentina who, like Kredan, encounters Scamander when he stops in New York on his travels.

The Harry Potter franchise remains the most successful in history, having grossed a massive $7.7 billion in worldwide box office earnings.

Warner Bros has confirmed that Fantastic Beasts is scheduled for worldwide release on 18 November 2016.