Watch the 'Fantastic Beasts' Cast Explain Who Their Characters Are in New ‘Harry Potter’ Spin-Off

Unlike the eight Harry Potter movies, there is no preexisting novel that introduces the new wizards and No-Majs (that’s Muggles to Potterheads) who inhabit Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Set in 1920s New York, the movie will focus on Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a wizard who accidentally sets the title beasts loose and wreaks havoc in the magical world of the United States.

The movie — which hits theaters on Nov. 18 — comes from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling herself, but we still needed a crash course in this new corner of the Potterverse. So at Comic-Con this weekend, we asked stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Colin Farrell, Alison Sudol, and Dan Fogler to breakdown their Beasts alter-egos for us. Redmayne for instance, introduced us to his “self-proclaimed Magizoologist” who “stumbles into New York, and for him that’s a city filled with people, and he’s not particularly good with people.” Scamander teams up with Jacob Kowalski (Fogler), a baker who, Fogler explains is “the first, central, non-magical character” in the Potterverse. The also get help from a witch named Tina Goldstein, of whom Waterson says, “She wants to be Sherlock Homes, but she’s Olive Oyl.” Watch above to hear more of what the actors had to say.

Watch the new Fantastic Beasts trailer released at Comic-Con: