Credit: Warner Bros.The Fantastic Beasts trilogy left a lot to be desired (the last two films, at least). Paper-thin storytelling, dull characters, and, overall, a pointless attempt at serving as prequels to the Harry Potter films despite starting as nothing more than an adaptation of a half-inch-thick magical creatures encyclopedia. But there may be something worth salvaging.
Recently, we learned that in addition to the upcoming Harry Potter television series, which will be based on the seven books by JK Rowling, HBO Max may now be planning a Wizarding World shared universe that would involve more than just one series.
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While it’s assumed that the upcoming Harry Potter television shows (or even if it’s just the one) will be entirely unrelated to the eight Harry Potter films (the confirmed series is, after all, a reboot), they may still salvage parts of the wreckage that is the Fantastic Beasts trilogy.
Despite the Fantastic Beasts trilogy sharing some actors with Harry Potter (Jamie Campbell Bower’s young Gellert Grindelwald and Hebe Beardsall’s Ariana Dumbledore), the new series could still adopt the trilogy as its own. And the one thing we can all agree is worth saving is Jude Law’s Albus Dumbledore.
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Though Albus Dumbledore is around 150 years old during the Harry Potter era, having been portrayed by Richard Harris and Michael Gambon in the films, there’d be no harm in whitening and lengthening Jude Law’s beard and giving him a touch-up of prosthetics to help him appear more like the elderly wise wizard he’s already destined to become.
But even if the new series is, as expected, unrelated to Fantastic Beasts, there’s nothing stopping Law from reprising his role either way. This has happened in many franchises before, with the most notable reprisal being Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, with the actor having played the character long before the two Deadpool films in the canonically unrelated X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).
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With all that said, it’s also possible one of HBO Max’s planned Wizarding World shows is a follow-up to Fantastic Beasts anyway, as the spinoff franchise remains incomplete due to the poor critical and financial performances of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).
Director David Yates, who has helmed every installment in the Wizarding World franchise since Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), recently told the Inside Total Film podcast that Fantastic Beasts has been temporarily “parked,” but there may be plans to continue the story on the small screen — we’ll just have to wait and see.
Either way, we don’t think fans would complain about seeing Jude Law back as the beloved headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, whether it’s the young version he’s played in two films so far, or as the Harry Potter-era version of the character.
Would you like to see Jude Law reprise his role as Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!