Credit: Warner Bros.There’s even more content on the way for Potterheads.
To say that the past few years have been a roller coaster for Harry Potter fans would be an understatement. On one hand, the franchise’s spinoff series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, crashed and burned after three films and a Johnny Depp casting (then recasting) controversy.
On the other, the Harry Potter video game “Hogwarts Legacy” smashed records upon its release, despite many calling for a total boycott.
The boycott in question was sparked, of course, by the franchise’s author. JK Rowling may have created the Wizarding World, but she’s also the cause of the fandom’s stark divide, having stirred endless controversy in recent years over her views on gender identity and the transgender community.
The extent of this controversy is too long, intricate, and frustrating to summarize concisely, but the general gist is that Rowling first generated backlash for liking a tweet that described trans women as “men in dresses.”
While her spokesperson initially claimed this was an accident, she’s spent subsequent years doubling down and expanding on this sentiment, with the lowest points including Rowling comparing trans people to Death Eaters and misgendering several well-known transgender women in a list on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside convicted sexual offenders.
In the wake of the backlash, several Harry Potter stars – including Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) – have spoken out in defense of the transgender community.
While rumors have floated on the internet for years that Warner Bros. Discovery hoped to bring the OG cast for a movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the cast’s current relationship with Rowling makes this rather unlikely.
Instead, the studio has turned to a new tactic for expanding the Wizarding World: rebooting it entirely. Whether fans like it or not, the series is getting a remake for HBO, with each book adapted into a season. Filming reportedly begins on the series in the UK this summer.
The studio isn’t stopping there. Theories have also surfaced that there are plans to create future, additional Harry Potter projects (with many hoping a Marauders series is part of the package).
We have no confirmation on anything of the sort just yet, but this week, we have learned that we will soon receive at least one additional Harry Potter project.
As per Deadline, a second season of Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking has been commissioned for the Food Network.
Hosted by James and Oliver Phelps (who played Fred and George Weasley in the original films), this competition series features professional bakers crafting Wizarding World-inspired dishes on iconic sets like Hogwarts’ Great Hall and Platform 9¾.
The six-part show premiered in November, attracting over 16.4 million viewers across linear TV, Max, and Discovery+, according to Warner Bros. Discovery.
Along with the Phelps brothers, guests from the Harry Potter films, including Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick/Griphook), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), and Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), made appearances. Culinary judges Carla Hall and Jozef Youssef lent their expertise throughout the series, which was well-received by fans.
“James and Oliver were great hosts,” wrote one Wizards of Baking viewer on Reddit. “I personally don’t have a clue what they’ve been doing since Potter ended, but someone should scoop them up to host more shows.”
Another fan wrote: “I’ve been a big Harry Potter fan since the beginning and thought they did a good job and integrating the books while also focusing on the baking. Oliver and James did a great job as hosts. I would love to see more of them.”
Are you a big fan of Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking?