Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. For today’s video, I wanted to do
something a little bit different than normal. I do a lot of explanations and theories and
things like that, but for today, I wanted to share with you my own thoughts on what
I would like to see (in an ideal world) coming out of the Harry Potter film franchise over
the next years, decades.
When the last book was released- there was certainly a sense of finality when it came
to the Harry Potter series- however, fortunately, the films were lagging behind- which meant
that they were able to keep the same magic alive for a few more years. However, when
the Deathly Hallows finally ended- I didn’t really know what to watch next, so I did what
any other sane Harry Potter fan would do- I started the films and books again from the
beginning. We’re now in 2020, which means that it’s been 13 years since the last book
came out, and 9 years since the last movie came out, which effectively means that I’ve
now repeated this re-reading / re-watching process more times than I’d care to admit.
With fans longing for more magical Harry Potter related content- JK Rowling and Warner Bros
answered with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, which came out in 2016. The film
had varying reviews- and though it was a far-cry from the Harry Potter films that I so knew
and loved, I appreciated the effort. I thought it was an OK movie- certainly not comparable
to the franchise from which it was based- but it did a decent job as far as a prequel
goes.
Then, just 2 short years later, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was released
in 2018. This film, in my opinion, did a better job of tying in the magical world that we
already knew and loved. I think that the fan reception of the first film was clear: give
us more of what we know and love. We want new- but, maybe not everything. What this
meant for the film was more connections to the Harry Potter world- in the form of characters,
places, creatures and references. We even got to see Dumbledore. Unfortunately, it’s
now November 2020- and I say unfortunately because November 2020 is when Fantastic Beasts
3 was originally supposed to be released. However, it has clearly not been released,
in fact- we’re now looking at a SUMMER 2022 release date. This is for a number of reasons-
a total screenplay rewrite (which is a plus), covid delays, and now the recasting of the
primary antagonist (Johnny Depp - Gellert Grindelwald). With that said, many fans are
upset with the way that the Harry Potter franchise has been handled. I’m happy with Fantastic
Beasts- and I’m really interested to see where they go with it now that more time and
effort has been allocated toward the film.
HOWEVER, one thing that I’ve always thought- is that rather than making prequels to the
Harry Potter films that follow entirely different characters- why couldn’t Warner Brothers
have pursued something that was different-but still familiar. I am of course talking about
spinoffs that follow origin stories of characters that we know and love- spinoffs that discuss
how the wizarding world that we know came to be the way that it is. Fantastic Beasts
sort of does this- but still feels like it’s independent from the Harry Potter films in
a lot of ways. Here are some of the films that I’d like
to see:
First of all: an origin story for the Marauders.
The Marauders were a group of mischievous young boys who attended Hogwarts school of
witchcraft and wizardry during the 1970s. These four boys were characters that you’ve
probably heard of: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The quartet
of boys began their studies in 1971, the same year as Severus Snape, and they all had one
thing in common - they were all Gryffindors. Before the sorting ceremony even happened
the boys hit it off, and when they were eventually sorted in to the same house, they knew that
they were destined to be friends. Though the boys got on with many of their other classmates,
this particular group of 4 boys had a truly special bond, and they eventually came up
with a name for their group - they were ‘The Marauders’. The boys had a lot in common,
beyond the fact that all of them were gryffindors, as they all also happened to be huge troublemakers.
If there was a rule at Hogwarts, they were hellbent on breaking it, and they were truly
notorious for their rule-breaking and mischief making. Their group existed for the duration
of the time that they spent at Hogwarts, from 1971-1978, and after graduating they even
all went on to join The Order of the Phoenix - a secret society founded by Dumbledore that
opposed Lord Voldemort.
This is a group of 4 characters that are INTEGRAL to the Harry Potter story, that already have
a pre-established backstory that could easily be adapted in to an independent narrative.
James is the father of the boy who lived, Sirius Black is the man who lost his friends
and basically his entire life in one fateful night, Lupin is the boy who was bitten by
the notorious werewolf Fenrir Greyback, and Pettigrew is the snivelling excuse for a man
that went down a very dark path. These are FOUR MASSIVE characters- and I think that
I certainly speak for other fans as well when I say: make this film.
The next spin-off that I’d like to see involves the 4 Hogwarts Founders and the founding of
the school itself. Hogwarts goes with Harry Potter like Marmite goes with Toast- they’re
meant to be- so in my eyes it only makes sense to provide an ORIGIN story that explains how
the school came to be. The founders are such enigmatic figures- powerful wizards thought
to be more powerful than modern day wizards- and I want to see that on the big screen.
Or at the very least- the small screen in my house.
Hogwarts was founded at some point during the tenth century. It was built hidden off
somewhere in the Scottish highlands (the exact location is never actually revealed)- and
this was because the tenth century was a time of hardship for witches and wizards. During
this time, every day, witches and wizards were being persecuted by muggles-who were
intensely hostile when it came to witnessing sources of magic. This was a different time-
a time very much unlike what we are used to seeing in the magical world.
Hogwarts was founded when four 10th century witches and wizards got together, and decided
that they had, in the sorting hat’s own words: ‘the selfsame yearning, to make the
world’s best magic school’. These founders were Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw,
Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff. Thus, Hogwarts was born. Not only was this a time
when the school was created- but it was also when the HOUSE system was introduced. Gryffindor,
Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff- have you ever heard of them? Wouldn’t you like to
know what the first students of the houses were like? What the OG of the respective house
was like? Well- make the film.
The NEXT Spin-off that I want to see made involves none other than Lord Voldemort. Voldemort
intrigues me- what an interesting character, and when we see glimpses of his past, and
him at varying stages of his life- I’m only left even more intrigued. Now, there’s a
possibility that Voldemort will appear in Fantastic Beasts- and this could be a very
smart move on Warner Bros part if it’s executed well- HOWEVER, IF he doesn’t show up, I
still want to see a Voldemort Origins story. We know that Voldemort turns in to a murderous
dark wizard intent on dominating the wizarding world and achieving blood purity- but what
I want to see are the steps in his childhood that got him to that point. I want to see
him at Wool’s Orphanage- and witness how he interacted with the other children. I also
want to see him at Hogwarts- making ‘friends’ with the original death eaters- I want to
see him grow up. A Voldemort origins story could be a great way of going back in to wizarding
history and doing a character analysis on the primary antagonist of the Harry Potter
films. So I’ll say it again - make the film.
Another Spin-off that I want to see made involves Albus Dumbledore. Albus was a magical prodigy-
he was able to do things with a wand that no one had seen before- and given that we’re
only really shown the old-age Dumbledore, I really want to see what he was like as a
boy. Again, the Fantastic Beasts films may touch on this- but I’m not sure how much,
and how far back they’ll go. The premise of Fantastic Beasts surrounds the defeat of
Gellert Grindelwald- who plays quite a large role in Dumbledore’s story- but what I want
to see is Dumbledore’s father being sent to Azkaban, and Dumbledore’s sister being
killed after being caught in the crossfire of a three way duel involving Abeforth, Albus
and Grindelwald. I want to see all of this on-screen, and the subject matter is certainly
there. So, I’ll say it one last time: make the film.
That’s it for today’s video- I hope you enjoyed something a little bit different.
What spin-offs do you want to see made? If you agree with the ones I mentioned above-
then share the video and get the word out there. Do any of these appeal to you more
than the others? Leave a comment down below.
Until next time
There is plenty to be learned even from a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be