How The Fantastic Beasts 3 Trailers Lied To Us About Jacob
The following article contains spoilers for "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."
2018's "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" put the Wizarding World franchise in a troublesome predicament. It was the first time a "Harry Potter" movie earned a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the general critical consensus being that it was a significant step-down for the magical series. As such, "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" provided a chance for course correction, and while everyone's mileage out of the film will differ, anticipation has been through the roof for the next installment of Newt Scamander's (Eddie Redmayne) journey.
Even the trailers for "The Secrets of Dumbledore" seem to have caught viewers under a spell, which really just goes to show the lasting power of Harry Potter and his wonderful world. Based on those trailers, it even appeared as though there were still a few surprises awaiting audiences in the latest installment, particularly when it came to the character of Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler).
In the trailer, Newt presents Jacob with a wand of his very own. It's an intriguing development, seeing how Jacob's a muggle, and as a result, fans assumed he could never use magic. It would seem fans weren't far off in their assessment. Since the film's now out for audiences to enjoy, we now understand how this trailer lied (or at least misrepresented) this development.
Jacob can't use magic because the wand doesn't have a core
Think back to the early days of "Harry Potter" when the titular wizard went to obtain his first wand. Garrick Ollivander held his own shop in Diagon Alley, and whenever he presented a wand to a young witch or wizard, he would discuss both the material the exterior was made out of and the core. From phoenix feather to unicorn hair, this property becomes adeptly suited to the holder of the wand. However, an interesting caveat about the wand Newt presents Jacob in "The Secrets of Dumbledore" is that it contains no such core. It's made out of snakewood, but there's nothing inside, rendering it virtually useless. All Jacob can do is look moderately threatening when he later confronts Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) at the dining ceremony.
This is in sharp contrast to the trailers where we see Jacob seemingly performing wondrous magic with his wand. He creates a storm around Grindelwald and his minions, but of course, it's not actually Jacob performing the spell. Right before he thinks he's about to do something magical, Professor Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams) conducts a charm to make it seem like Jacob's the one doing the magic. It's all part of the illusion to make everyone believe an assassination attempt took place and was credible.
At the end of the day, it makes sense. Jacob isn't a wizard, so there's no way he would be able to perform magic. Plus, it makes sense at the end of the film when he asks Dumbledore (Jude Law) if he can hang onto the wand. It's pretty much just a fancy piece of wood at that point, so Dumbledore doesn't see the harm.