After struggling to get the Fantastic Beasts series off the ground, it seems like Warner Bros. is planning to go back to the basics with The Wizarding World. The studio is apparently close to closing a new deal with J.K. Rowling that would let it reboot Harry Potter with a TV show. It seems like the fanbase is not very excited about this idea, but there is a place that a Harry Potter reboot could work.
It seems strange to reboot Harry Potter only 12 years after the titular character's last film, but Warner Bros. could redo the story in a video game. If it really wants to explore Harry’s journey again then it should give fans control this time. Hogwarts Legacy showed that there is an audience for new Wizarding World video games, and the Harry Potter story would be great source material for a video game adaptation.
Hogwarts Legacy Paved the Way for a Harry Potter Series
The Wizarding World has been in a rough spot ever since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Warner Bros. did not want to let the series rest, and it quickly got to work on the Fantastic Beasts series. These movies were supposed to kickstart a whole Wizarding World franchise, and they were being penned by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. It seemed like a recipe for success, but things quickly fell apart as the series progressed.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them showed promise, but the rest of the series failed to attract audiences. Each film opened lower than the previous one, and Secrets of Dumbledore would end up becoming the lowest-grossing Harry Potter film yet. Fantastic Beasts was put on hold after the third one, and fans will likely never see the fourth or fifth ones. This seemed like a death sentence for the franchise, but Hogwarts Legacy showed that audiences are still craving more magical adventures.
It seems like the issue with Fantastic Beasts was not that it didn't follow Harry Potter, but that the films lacked the other core elements of the franchise. Hogwarts Legacy showed fans what a good Wizarding World adventure looked like. It brought players to a fully realized Hogwarts, introduced a new story following a new group of students, and let fans actually live in that world. Warner Bros. should have taken notes from Hogwarts Legacy, but it seems to have chosen to retread the Harry Potter story instead.
It is way too soon for a Harry Potter reboot, and it feels like the studio would just be setting itself up for failure. Fans have grown to love the movie versions of these characters, and actors like Daniel Radcliffe have become synonymous with Harry Potter. The studio has also built an entire theme park around the films, and most of the merchandise is themed after the series. The films are just as much a part of Harry Potter as the books are, and it will be hard to convince fans to replace them with a TV show.
While this new TV show may be a bad idea, Warner Bros. could still explore Harry Potter again through a video game. Hogwarts Legacy showed that Warner Bros. is capable of fully realizing Hogwarts and the Wizarding World, and it did it without including any major characters from J.K. Rowling’s series. If it chose to directly adapt Harry Potter in a new video game series, then it could be unstoppable.
Fans do not want to watch the same story play out again only 12 years later, but they may be interested in playing it. The movies all got video game adaptations, but Warner Bros. could do much more if it directly adapted the books. Games offer developers limitless freedom in how the story is told, and many fans would love to guide Harry through his exhilarating journey.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with PS4 and Xbox One versions launching May 5 and a Switch port releasing July 25.
