The Fantastic Beasts franchise’s failure is mostly due to their blatant disregard for a significant portion of what made the Harry Potter movies so exceptional and well-liked. With five films planned to depict the story of magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), the Wizarding World, and the truth about Gellert Grindelwald’s (formerly played by Johnny Depp, now Mads Mikkelsen) ascent, Warner Bros. had high hopes for the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Unfortunately for the studio, the series has never really taken off in the way they hoped.
Hogwarts was essential to the success of Harry Potter as the main location where the stories took place. That beautiful setting, which was masterfully shown in both the novels and the films, managed to convey the series’ inherent sense of magic in such a wonderful way. The Fantastic Beasts movies attempted to be bigger than Harry Potter and believed they could do it by visiting more places and introducing a new (global) cast of characters. However, they swiftly changed their path to better fit Harry Potter’s plotlines, especially with the introduction of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, without ever really being able to compete.
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In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, for example, The Quidditch World Cup and with it the appearance of other wizarding schools (Beauxbatons and Durmstrang) were effective indications of the greater Wizarding World, but they were ultimately never an interruption of Hogwarts and never served to diminish it. Of course, that isn’t all the struggles Fantastic Beasts has had. Here’s what really went wrong with the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
Actors & the Author Bring Controversy
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The Fantastic Beasts films have struggled to bring about good news. Multiple actors have been involved in controversy, including both Johnny Depp and Ezra Miller. Depp was involved in a massively publicized trial after his ex-wife Amber Heard posted an editorial piece in The Washington Post alleging that Depp had abused her. Warner Bros and Depp parted ways after the second Fantastic Beasts film, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, wherein Depp played Grindelwald. In the next film, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Mads Mikkelsen took over the role. Deadline reported that Mikkelsen admitted “it was very intimidating” to step into the role of Grindelwald after Depp. Mikkelsen also went on to say, “I’m a big fan of Johnny. I think he’s an amazing actor, I think he did a fantastic job. Having said that, I could not copy it. There was no way I could just copy it, because it’s so much him.”
Ezra Miller, on the other hand, has just announced their entry into mental health treatment. The star who plays Credence Barebone in all three Fantastic Beasts films has been embroiled in controversy over a series of criminal allegations in the past few years. The actor gained notoriety in 2020 after a recording of them appearing to choke a woman outside an Icelandic club leaked. There were no charges brought. Since that incident, Miller has been detained twice in Hawaii, the second time for harassment and disorderly behavior. The actor pled not guilty to a single count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hawaii incidents, and they also paid a $500 fine and $30 in court fees. The harassment accusation was dropped. Miller most recently faced felony burglary charges in Vermont after state police looked into a case involving multiple bottles of wine being taken from a home while the owners were away.
The author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, has also made statements against the LGBTQ+ community, specifically the trans women community. The author published an opinion piece on her website after her comments on transgender individuals on Twitter went viral. The essay includes an entire section dedicated to bathroom safety. Rowling writes, “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.” Her comments sparked rage within the fandom, even leading some to say they were boycotting her books and removing their Harry Potter-themed tattoos.
Changing Established Canon Content
The main Harry Potter canon that Fantastic Beasts has changed is Minerva McGonagall’s age. McGonagall, played by Fiona Glascott in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, is portrayed as a grown woman teaching Transfiguration at Hogwarts. This completely disregards the original canon storyline for the acclaimed Professor. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book, it is clearly stated that McGonagall did not begin teaching at Hogwarts until 1956. Before being updated, the original canon lore-based resource Pottermore, detailed writing by Rowling, revealed that McGonagall was born on October 4, 1935. This information has since been changed, and there are now no dates listed in McGonagall’s biography at all. The disregard of a key story point is very frustrating, but true fans know that McGonagall teaching at Hogwarts in the 1920s during the Fantastic Beasts franchise before she was born is literally impossible. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore also features a flashback to the 1910s that also features McGonagall still as an adult teaching at Hogwarts. She shouldn’t have been alive during any of the Fantastic Beasts films, let alone a Hogwarts professor.
Another issue of the Harry Potter canon being completely ignored is Albus Dumbledore’s teaching career. In the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets book, we learn that Dumbledore was a Transfiguration professor around the time the Fantastic Beasts films take place, prior to becoming Headmaster. However, in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, he is seen teaching a Defense against the Dark Arts lesson about Bogarts.
These aren’t the only moments in which the Fantastic Beasts films have changed the Harry Potter established canon, but they are the most noticeable. It ultimately signals to fans that the producers and writers of the Fantastic Beasts films do not care about maintaining the integrity and backstory of the original series that their films are based on.
Lack of Focus on the Magic Itself
Something wonderful about Harry Potter was getting to see the magic being performed, like the magically moving staircases (pictured above). The Fantastic Beasts franchise’s stubborn refusal to recreate the magic of the earlier Harry Potter series may be its most aggravating component. The early Harry Potter stories’ feelings of magic and whimsy are entirely absent from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which plunges right into the high-stakes apocalyptic spectacle. This is unfortunate because there are a lot of intriguing possibilities at play.
Although Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ostensibly transports viewers to hitherto undiscovered regions of the Wizarding World, magic is not given enough attention in the film. Rather, the movies are historical dramas set during the First Wizarding War, and while this is an appealing aesthetic to add to the franchise, it takes away from the timeless aspect that watching Harry and his pals practice magic in Hogwarts offered us.
The Fantastic Beasts franchise’s future is not at all guaranteed. In February 2022, producer David Heyman told fans Rowling hadn’t yet begun writing the fourth script in the Harry Potter prequel series, The Rowling Library reported. To be honest, this franchise might better be laid to rest — unless any Hogwarts alums are aware of a spell that can cleanse a tarnished movie series.
