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Let The Wizarding World Go

No more Harry Potter Universe Movies

By Jordan McGlincheyPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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***SPOILER WARNING***

Ok, so I know this may seem like it's going to be an unpopular piece of writing, after all the world of Harry Potter has gone on to become one of the biggest and most successful franchises ever. So much so, most of the places from the books and movies have been replicated in real life for fans to visit and be a witch or wizard for the day. Who hasn't wanted to go to Hogwarts or dreamed of a visit to Hogsmeade?

The last book was released in 2007 and the last film, in the main serious, was released in 2010, yet, in the almost 11 years passed since, we are still finding out loads of new information we didn't know as well as having some impressive fan theories confirmed by none other than J.K. Rowling herself. Although she has become a bit controversial of late thanks to some of her recent tweets, no one can deny the Harry Potter franchise has been nothing short of magical.

Following the release of the last film in the main series, many fans where left with a void we thought couldn't be filled. We grew up with the films/books and got to watch the actors themselves grow up in front of us as well. When we saw that final scene, set 19 years later, we couldn't help but feel the sadness of knowing the journey was finally over.

However, a few short years after the "End", it was announced we would once again be returning to the Wizarding World, in the form of the movie - Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, base don the short universe tie in book written by Rowling in 2001. Which, interestingly, went on to help raise funds for Comic Relief in the UK.

Fans were beside themselves with joy at this exciting prospect, even if it didn't focus on the main man himself.

The new film would focus on the adventures of Newt Scamander, penned author of the tie in book (instead of Rowling), with some of the creatures mentioned in the book and throughout the HP franchise. Considered a bold move by many as a big part of the success of the main film series came from the stellar cast, none of which would appear in the new film, as well as there being a much larger scale of source material to work with, however fans where still happy to show their support.

The film itself isn't too bad and is actually quite enjoyable throughout. Then we got the twist ending ending, getting introduced to one of the original big bads of this universe, Gellert Grindelwald, played by none other than Johnny Depp.

It was a twist very few saw coming and it was met with mixed reviews. Mostly due to the casting choice and the complete change in look for the character as we had seen him before, in the deathly Hallows Part 1. We see Voldemort confront him in search of the Elder Wand before realising it lay with Dumbledore. In this scene he appears as an ordinary looking man, however in this new film, he was given an extreme makeover. Well groomed silver hair and different coloured eyes seemed to be a strange choice, with thousands flocking to social media to express their opinion of it. No matter what you thought, there's no denying it was a pretty cool scene.

All in all, FB&WTFT turned out to be a fairly good addition to the Wizarding World and, after it's success, it was announced it would be the first installment of a new trilogy of films.

This news sparked a powder keg of theories from fans all over the world, especially when it was also announce we would be meeting a young Dumbledore, in the form of the great Jude Law. Fans went wild at the thought of finally seeing the greatest duel to ever take place in the (wizard) world - Dumbledore vs Grindelwald. Granted we already new the outcome, this was just one of those things, we wanted to see the fight. The relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald was a fairly big part of the last book, however it was all but missing from the original movies, which is a shame as helped highlight just how human Dumbledore was after all and gave us an insight into his backstory not known before. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the films suffered for excluding this storyline, but it would have been good to see.

With this new trilogy set to explore this relationship and potentially show us this amazing duel, we were on board. Unfortunately, whilst Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: Crimes Of Grindelwald did begin to touch on this, it seemed to forget the overall world it was apart of and so caused some major inconsistencies with the main series of films and books.

To start with, Dumbledore, arguably one of the biggest characters out with the main three, had major changes. Jude Law was hailed as a great choice for the young Dumbledore, but there were just too many changes. He was shown teaching Defence Against The Dark Arts, even though the main series established Transfiguration was his subject. Gone where the flamboyant, colourful robes, exchanged instead for a nice three piece suit. His past with Grindelwald also became a bit murky (when exactly was this blood oath made in the timeline?!?!?!)

We also, in two separate scenes, hear one female character referred to as "Professor McGonagall", however according to all previously released information, including her bio by J.K Rowling, the events of this film would take place before she was actually born, but it would appear she is a fully grown teacher? She also took her fathers muggle name, making it unlikely this is a family, so who is she?

Leading up to the release of the new movie, it became known another character from the main series would appear, Nagini. Again fans were excited at this, but also wary as she was basically Voldemorts pet/horcrux. One of which needing to be destroyed to finally vanquish the Dark Lord, relegating her status to pretty much just an object in the end. She is the last Horcrux to be destroyed and is done so by Neville Longbottom in one of his most heroic scenes, finally giving him the admiration he deserved. using the sword of Gryffindor.

Crimes of Grindelwald, however decided to give her a bit of a strange backstory. Turns out she was actually a human being, a maledictus, a female who carried a blood curse which would eventually turn her into a beast forever. So when did "she" meet Voldemort? Seen as an attempt to provide another link to the main series, this would actually damage the main timelines events as it then raises several questions. Was she aware what she was doing when with Voldemort? Was she under some sort of spell? I mean, she literally ate someone...

Most importantly, it completed destroyed Neville's aforementioned heroic moment as he, technically, killed a person so is he a murder now? What a way to take his moment away from him!!

Finally, the last nail in the coffin for people was this films attempt to mimic the big twist of the first one. At the end it is revealed, the character Credence, is actually the long lost brother of Albus Dumbledore - Aurelius. Really? Come on!

This is such a huge revelation and not even hinted at anywhere else previously. It may turn out to be a lot of nonsense (some films have done this before) it's a bit of a slap in the face to the fans who have followed the franchise since the beginning. It just doesn't feel right, especially since the Deathly Hallows book does delve into Dumbledore's backstory quite a bit. These new films have gone from expanding the universe to outright rewriting it and this is why it is time to stop, before it gets any worse, but alas this is not to be.

It has been announced a third film is in the works (with Mads Mikkelson set to replace Depp) and there are now talks of adapting the Cursed Child as well as a tv show. There is no problem with this, as long as it focuses on different characters/stories and doesn't affect what's all ready been established, but, in my opinion the Cursed Child is already doomed to fail as one important ingredient is missing - the late, great Alan Rickman.

So please, let's stop replacing good story telling with poor, cash grabbing, mediocre attempts at recreating the original magic and wonder. Like most I will never forget sitting in the cinema and seeing Hogwarts on the big screen for the first time. IT truly was a magical moment and I don't want that memory tarnished for the sake of making a quick buck.

What do you think, is it time Hollywood stopped trying to reboot and change existing franchises?

Check out my previous story on the Star Wars universe if you enjoyed this :)

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About the Creator

Jordan McGlinchey

TV

Writing

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