A Single Mistake Ultimately Ruined Fantastic Beasts Series For Good

To this day, Harry Potter remains one of the most popular and financially successful film franchises. When it came to an end in 2011, fans were heartbroken and didn't expect another project to live up to their high expectations. Fortunately, Warner Bros. committed to an HP prequel, and the Fantastic Beasts franchise was born.

Now, it's been a year and a half since the premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Sadly, the movie hasn't been as popular with audiences as the first part of the franchise. The reason is simple - the filmmakers repeatedly made one mistake. Remarkably, it is reflected in the very name of the third movie.

Fantastic Beasts ≠ Dumbledore's Biography

With cinema and literature, titles are of paramount importance, as they are meant to give a potential viewer or reader a sense of what the work is about, and to interest them in the topic, so to speak. As far as the Fantastic Beasts franchise is concerned, the writers seem to have forgotten this principle with each new installment.

For example, the first film in the series actually lived up to its title, as it was indeed dedicated to various magical creatures that the main character, Newt Scamander, traveled through muggle and magical worlds to save or help. However, the plot veered away from fantastic beasts and even Newt's adventures to tell the story of Dumbledore's complicated relationship with the series' antagonist, Gellert Grindelwald, as well as the Hogwarts headmaster's dark family drama.

The Issue in One Sentence

Despite the excitement of being able to dive back into the wizarding world after the Harry Potter conclusion, fans aren't entirely happy with the way the Fantastic Beasts franchise has unfolded. Many feel they've been cheated out of a wonderful story that would have further explored the complexities of the beloved magical realm. Instead, they've been given Dumbledore's biography in an exciting-looking wrapper.

'These movies are called "Fantastic Beasts" and aren't fantastic and contain relatively few beasts,' one Redditor summarized the problem with the film series.

In fact, it would have been more honest to name the franchise after Dumbledore and use the beasts as a fascinating side story. That way, fans' expectations wouldn't have been dashed.

Ultimately, Fantastic Beasts is a popular movie franchise. And although it was supposed to have five installments, we still have to see if Warner Bros. will continue with a fourth movie.

Source: Reddit.