When Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them first came out in 2016, it excited audiences all over the globe, presenting them with the opportunity to delve into the next chapter of the wizarding world they fell in love with during the Harry Potter franchise. Although the Fantastic Beasts film series isn’t directly related to Harry Potter, it pays homage to some of the beloved places and characters, including Hogwarts and Dumbledore, and this was enough to revive the hard-core following of J.K.Rowlings works.
However, with recent controversies surrounding so many of the people involved in Fantastic Beasts, the franchise has taken a major hit, and after the second film, people are already turning their eyes towards the third installment, The Secrets of Dumbledore. The Crimes of Grindlewald earned substantially less at the box office than the first film of the trilogy, and after the seemingly unsuccessful release weekend of the third movie, it is feared that this one will follow suit, being the lowest-earning of any of the Harry Potter associated films to date.
There are several reasons why this may be occurring. One most prominent factor is that many fans believe that the films lost their Newt Scamander - the most lovable character in the first film, and his beautiful, naive perspective of the world, as well as his love and desire to protect the innocent creatures in a world where they were persecuted. In the second film, it felt like a Part 1 build-up to a much bigger, grittier story, and it lost the humble magic that made the first film so endearing and captivating to watch. He went from a lovely, bumbling, and passive man to a mighty hero of a story that was on such grand proportions it blew any sense of relatablily out of the water.
The other reason the films have done so badly, is most likely due to the unavoidable controversy that came as a result of the backlash J.K.Rowling received over her tweets, something openly (and not so openly) unendorsed by the Harry Potter cast and crew. Many fans feel disconnected from her world now, a place that felt safe for them to be their true selves. Things seem to be settling however, with Rowling taking a backseat in all things Harry Potter.
There is of course more controversy and turbulence emitting from the ongoing struggle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, which led to the former being dropped from his acting role as Grindlewald. Many fans are actively boycotting the films due to this, his role having been given to Mads Mikkelsen for The Secrets of Dumbledoor film. While there is a lot of credit to Mikkelsen's portrayal of the character, some stating he was a much better choice and made a far better Grindlewald that Depp, the studio's choice to drop Depp sat sourly in many a fans mouth.
If this wasn’t enough reason for fans to have had enough with the cursed world of Fantastic Beasts, the recent arrest of Ezra Miller on claims of harassment and disorderly conduct in Hawaii back in March, was the final straw. All of these things are bound to affect the perception of the Fantastic Beasts films around the globe, and put people off of watching the third installment, but the issues that are currently surfacing with The Secrets of Dumbledore go far beyond that, beyond the actors and creators, and right to the very heart of why many sequel-type shows struggle: the canon.
Many fans simply aren't on board with the representation of Dumbledore, because it goes so far against the canon for the character demonstrated in the films and the books. There are many things about the young Dumbledore that feel forced and shoe-horned in to make it appear as though it’s always been this way, and his relationship to Grindlewald just doesn’t feel authentic. And as the third film centers explicitly around these elements, fans have become disillusioned with the franchise, feeling that it has strayed too far from its wizarding world roots, and also from the magical beasts that were so captivating and awe-inspiring in the first Fantastic Beasts film.
The second became a political, jumbled mess that left many viewers feeling deflated, and the third film looks to be hammering that nail into the coffin, with audiences already deeming it problematic, tragic, and dishonorable. Even the people making the film seem to have lost motivation of belief in their ability to make the films good, having originally set out to make five Fantastic Beasts films, now they are considering letting the franchise fade out at three.