Fans Outraged Following ‘Harry Potter’ Reboot News, Continue to Slam JK Rowling

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Harry Potter, Hermione Jean Granger and Ron Weasley with a background of a castle burning and on the side is a game called Hogwarts Legacy.

Credit: Inside the Magic

It would be the understatement of the century to say that the last couple of years has been turbulent for the Wizarding World. A ton of off-screen controversy, whether it was Johnny Depp’s infamous trial, Ezra Miller’s numerous arrests, or JK Rowling’s incredibly divisive tweets, it has all left a pretty sour taste in our mouths.

Still, it hasn’t stopped the wheels of the franchise from turning, and though the last couple of Fantastic Beasts films failed to impress both critically and financially, leaving the future of Harry Potter in film uncertain and thus allowing for a whirlwind of rumors of reboots, recastings, and so on, there has been some light at the end of the tunnel.

Newt Scamander looking for the Niffler in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'
Credit: Warner Bros.

Related: Harry Potter’ Actress Defends JK Rowling Amid Prequel Controversy

Enter Hogwarts Legacy (2023), the open-world game set in the Wizarding World that was released earlier this year. It broke records before even hitting shelves, and now it’s on course to be the biggest gaming title of the year. But unless you’ve been living at the bottom of a suitcase with a Magical Extension Charm on it, you’ll know the game came also with a ton of controversy.

What started out as a small number of fans boycotting the game due to its affiliations with JK Rowling, soon exploded into an online war not dissimilar to the Battle of Hogwarts. The question is; which side were the Death Eaters? Well, the truth is that there’s often vitriolic behavior on both sides, with many individuals speaking out of turn.

Hogwarts Legacy Harry Potter game student getting Sorted
Credit: Warner Bros.

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What was strange about this discourse, though, was the fact that the anti-JK Rowling crowd has never once appeared to boycott, say, the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022). This isn’t to suggest that we’re questioning the legitimacy of the Hogwarts Legacy backlash — it’s just rather curious, don’t you think?

But either way, their efforts to stop the game — or at least stop those unfazed by Rowling’s tweets from buying it — were, of course, futile. An open-world Harry Potter game was about as unstoppable as anyone in possession of all three Deathly Hallows. Thankfully, though, the online hate — on both sides — died down once the game was released.

Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Credit: Warner Bros.

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Meanwhile, the future of the franchise outside gaming has remained a bit of a mystery. But now, after years of speculation, it has been announced that a brand-new HBO Max Harry Potter reboot is happening, in the form of a seven-season-long television series, with each season focusing on one book — which is all subject to Warner Bros. Discovery finalizing the deal.

JK Rowling is also officially attached — no surprise really, considering Warner Bros. made a point of announcing their full support of the author last year in the wake of death threats she’d received after the brutal attack on fellow author Salmon Rushdie, as well as unsubstantiated rumors the studio had cut ties with her.

However, discourse within the fanbase has already started to rear its ugly head online.

redmayne defends rowling
Credit: Debra Hurford Brown/Rowling

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Unlike Hogwarts Legacy, the HBO Max Harry Potter reboot will likely divide fans into three camps and not two: those excited for more Wizarding World adventures, those in total opposition of the reboot due to JK Rowling being involved, and those who generally don’t like to see their beloved franchises going under the knife (understandable).

Likely the same people who opposed Hogwarts Legacy, a number of fans have already flocked to Twitter (the Internet’s equivalent to a town hall, it seems) to voice their disdain for the HBO Max Harry Potter reboot, with one person even shockingly referring to the Harry Potter books as “the 9/11 of literature”.

Dolores Umbridge in her office in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Credit: Warner Bros.

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Not everyone says such awful things, though, of course. In fact, it would be wrong to suggest that all the anti-Hogwarts Legacy people and those now rising up against the reboot, have no cause to be upset. JK Rowling may have attempted to set the record straight, but the truth is that her tweets hurt many members of the trans community and beyond.

There’s also no denying that those tweets have painted an image of Rowling that she has probably found impossible to shake off — and she doesn’t help matters, with tweets such as “Merry TERFmas” — referring to the term “trans-exclusionary radical feminist, a name often thrown her way by her haters — feeling downright unnecessary and provocative.

Richard Harris as Dumbledore in Harry Potter
Credit: Warner Bros.

Related: Will Warner Bros. Use the Upcoming ‘Harry Potter’ Prequel to Reset the Franchise?

But either way, the discourse has officially begun. One tweet below from Twitter user Zoe Rose Bryant points out how “unnecessary” a reboot is (with which we agree), before quickly delving into the politics of the matter by pointing out that Rowling has “made if her life mission to invalidate the existence of trans woman”. Check it out below:

Setting aside how absurdly unnecessary a HARRY POTTER reboot is in the first place, I’d just rather we not continue to give billions to a woman who has made it her life mission to invalidate the existence of trans women and endanger our lives with her unrelentingly hateful rhetoric

Related: 12 Major Deaths In the ‘Harry Potter’ Movies Ranked

Meanwhile, other fans, who don’t appear to have a problem with JK Rowling, also aren’t happy with the news. Check out the tweet from Twitter user BLURAYANGEL below:

Warner Bros is rebooting HARRY POTTER at HBO Each season of the series will be based on one of the 7 books. I can’t believe this… the franchise is perfect. Why reboot??? Is nothing sacred?

Related: ‘Harry Potter’ Prequel Blows Up Online as Recasting Announcement Looms

Whether it’s fans who don’t like JK Rowling, or those who hate the idea of yet another beloved franchise being rebooted, this discourse will undoubtedly grow over the coming weeks and months, especially as we hear more news about the series, provided that deal between Warner Bros. Discovery and HBO Max is signed.

No further details about the reboot has been revealed, but between the word “reboot” and the fact that the series will be based on the books, there will, of course, be an entirely new cast — which probably won’t go down well with any of us!

Check out the official cinematic trailer for Hogwarts Legacy below:

Related: ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Star Confirms Series Is Dead In the Water, as New Prequel Takes Its Place

Hogwarts Legacy serves as a loose prequel to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 (2010), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 (2011), as well as the three spin-off films, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).

Along with Simon Pegg (Phineas Nigellus Black) and Luke Youngblood (Everett Clopton), the Hogwarts Legacy cast includes Sebastian Croft and Amelia Gething (the main character/Fifth Year student), Lesley Nicol (Deputy Head Professor Matilda Weasley), Kandace Caine (Divination Professor Onai), Sohm Kapila (Astronomy Professor Satyavati Shah), Asif Ali (Ravenclaw student Mahendra Pehlwaan), and Jason Anthony (Nearly Headless Nick and the Sorting Hat).

Onyx Hippogriff flight in Hogwarts Legacy
Credit: Warner Bros.

Related: ‘Harry Potter’ Star Discusses Reboot and Recasting as Wizarding World Collapses

As per the official Hogwarts Legacy website, here’s the synopsis for the game:

Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. For the first time, experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Now you can take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of Hogwarts Legacy are on sale now.

Are you for or against the new HBO Max Harry Potter reboot? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!

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