Warner Brothers and HBO Max announced in 2023 that the story ofHarry Potterand his many adventures are being remade into a television format, which is very bad news for the contentiousFantastic Beastsseries. While plot details for theupcoming 2026 serieshave been slim, the reported seven-season runtime seems to coincide with the seven books in the main series, meaning this will likely be a full-blown reboot that recasts many of the beloved roles and tells these iconic stories in a wholly new light. A new reboot means a new continuity, which in turn means that thedays of theFantastic Beastsprequel series are over.
The idea of seeing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in different time periods and locations sounds like a stroke of genius, as there are so many historical events and various places to get a magical twist. The firstFantastic Beastsfilm seemed to be on a quest to achieve just that, but the more this particular story expanded, themore it seemed to just lose its way. The reason? Well, there are a couple, including but not limited topoor planning, lackluster reviews, low box office returns, and controversial figures both in front of and behind the camera. All of these ingredients combined in a cauldron to create a franchise that is now even more dead than Harry Potter’s parents.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Professor Albus Dumbledore must assist Newt Scamander and his partners as Grindelwald begins to lead an army to eliminate all Muggles.
What Does the First Fantastic Beasts Film Get Wrong?
It’s a shame that the Harry Potter prequel series has fallen as far as it has, as things got off to a pretty good start withFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Thefilm is fascinating from a lore perspective, as fans are treated to characters they’ve only heard about before, introduced to a vast array of creative creatures, and get to see the American facet of the Wizarding World for the very first time. The main characters are also a hoot, with the lovably neurotic Newt (Eddie Redmayne), the ambitious ex-auror Tina (Katherine Waterston), the powerful mind-reader Queenie (Alison Sudol), and the hilarious no-mage Jacob (Dan Fogler) all being likable protagonists. Seeing the team of four go on a quest to get all of Newt’s creatures is an absolute blast, almost feeling like a magical live-actionPokémonset in 1920s New York.
The same cannot be said for the subplot following Credence (Ezra Miller) and Graves (Colin Farrell), which feels like it’s part of a completely different movie, and perhaps that was the initial plan. WhenFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themwas first announced, it was expected to be a one-off adventure, but closer to the film’s release, it was reported that the wholeFantastic Beastssaga would be five movies long. It was an announcement that not only shocked fans everywhere, but also surprised the teams that were actively making the movie. In a2023 interview with directorDavid Yates, the long-timeHarry Potterfranchise filmmaker revealed thatmaking fiveFantastic Beastsfilms was “a total surprise” for Yates and the rest of the creatives behind the would-be series, even implying that a five-film plan was more creatorJ.K. Rowling’s idea rather than that of Warner Brothers.
10 Fantasy Adventure Movies Like ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ to Watch Next
Newt Scamander’s suitcase isn’t the only realm with fantastical creatures.
If you look at Newt’s story, it feels pretty cut and dry, with a definitive beginning, middle, and end. The Credence plot is more of a dark horror story of madness, conflicting completely with the main plot line’s more lighthearted and fun nature. Thismakes Newt’s sudden involvement in the subplot in the third act feel extremely jarringand ultimately hurts the far more interesting main plot that was already engaging as-is. By the time we get to the remarkably rushed finale, it’s clear why the out-of-place Credence and Graves subplot exists. In a last-minute twist, it’s revealed that Graves is none other than the wanteddark wizard Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) in disguise, setting him up as the big bad for other 20th-century wizard adventures. Movies surrounding Grindelwald sound interesting, but now that Newt’s story felt concluded with no real reason to continue it, the franchise made a big mistake by keeping them around when they have nothing to do.
‘The Crimes of Grindelwald’ Was the Beginning of the End for the Fantastic Beasts Franchise
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themwas a decent-sized critical and financial success, but that would not be the case for its sequel,Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Ask any Harry Potter fan what the worst film in the series is and there’s a very good chance the second entry in theFantastic Beastssaga will enter the conversation. The consensus around the controversial film is thatit’s a bloated messthatconsistently breaks continuity and takes its characters in unsatisfying directions.
So many elements of the film have turned it into the punching bag of the series. The retconning of the Obliviate spell,Queenie’s hypocritical and nonsensical turn to the dark side, Nagini (Claudia Kim) being a human before she turned into a snake. We’d be here all day if we went over all the things that don’t make sense in the movie, but perhaps the biggest sin the film commits is not knowing what to do with its central characters. If this were a film just about the long-standing conflict between Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Grindelwald, that would be interesting, but instead,those two major characters take a backseat to the oldFantastic Beastscrew, who, again, feel completely out of place in this comparatively much darker conflict. Being so poorly received, thisshowed in the box office numbers, withThe Crimes of Grindelwaldnot performing all that well financially. Still, the ending tease of Credence being a Dumbledore is somewhat interesting, and something that a sequel could potentially salvage.
‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’ Was the Final Nail in the Coffin
Unfortunately, rather than saving the franchise,Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledorekilled it for good, being just as disappointing if not even more so than the previous film. Rather than address the criticisms of the prior installment,TheSecrets of Dumbledorejust tries to haphazardly retcon them. Pretty much the level of writing can be summed up in the Wizarding World having an election…that’s decided by a deer…yeah. By the time the film ends, basicallyevery idea introduced in the last film was undone, with Queenie no longer being a wizard fascist, Credence being Dumbledore’s nephew instead of brother (by the way, why would Grindelwald even lie about that?), andvarious plot threads still left unanswered.
While poor reviews are certainly a factor, it doesn’t really matter how bad a movie is as long as it has audience interest and makes a good amount of money.AsThe Secrets of Dumbledore’s box office scores show, the turnout for the theatrical release was abysmal,being the all-time lowest-grossing film in the franchise’s history. The entertainment business is just that — a business. If the money isn’t there, then the studio sees that as audiences are no longer interested in the series, and when it comes to behind-the-scenes drama, many moviegoers just didn’t feel comfortable supporting the IP.
Several Fantastic Beasts Stars and Creatives Have Left Stains on the Series
The backstage troubles of theFantastic Beastsseries began with Johnny Depp’s ongoing domestic abuse controversy against his ex-partner,Amber Heard. Following Depp losing a defamation suit against a news outlet,Warner Brothers decided Depp was too controversial for the villain role of the series and was recast withMads Mikkelsen. Depp would eventuallywin a defamation suit against Heard in 2022, but the damage was already done and Depp’s recasting was already final by that point.
Having one divisive major actor involved in a blockbuster series is problematic enough, but two? In recent years, Ezra Miller, who was a major presence at Warner Brothers with both the Fantastic Beasts films and DC Comics withThe Flash, became the subject of many legal issues involving several cases of alleged assault and battery. Whilethey’ve apologized for their actions, citing “complex mental health issues”, it’s another case of how a contentious performer can negatively affect the final product of a film.
Last and certainly least, there’s the Erumpent in the room to address —J.K. Rowlingherself. The architect of the Harry Potter series and the screenwriter of all three Fantastic Beasts installments has placed herself at the center of massive controversy due to herrepeated doubling down on anti-transgender sentiment.We saw this controversy reach a significant point of vitriol with both the release of the recentFantastic Beastsfilms and the successful but still highly divisive video gameHogwarts Legacy(Rowling was reportedly not directly involved in the game’s creation, but she still receives royalty’s and dividends as the franchise’s creator, which prompted a mass boycott movement) Its apparent many fans are no longer comfortable supporting someone who continues to use her platform to spread blatant transphobia. WhileHogwarts Legacywas a big financial success,that hypothesis is ultimately proven by her nearly 75% drop in profits. While the new Harry PotterMax series is still in early development, it’s already been confirmed that Rowling will still be creatively attached, which could prove to be the first error in following the same path to demise that the Fantastic Beasts films followed.
After months upon months of silence, it looks like the Fantastic Beasts franchise is over for good. David Yates officially confirmed that the series has been paused indefinitely, with future films reportedly no longer being a priority for Warner Bros. Discovery. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the second universally known franchise from WBD that is set to undergo a creative upheaval, as DC Comics adaptations are getting a completereboot courtesy ofJames GunnandPeter Safran. Where the new DCU has a preliminary plan mapped out, thefuture of the Harry Potter IP seems far more uncertain, especially with the oh-so-contentious J.K. Rowling still at the helm.
All three Fantastic Beasts movies and all eight Harry Potter films are currently available to stream on Max in the U.S.
