Forget Vecna: Stranger Things Star Jamie Campbell Bower’s Harry Potter Character Deserves a Wizarding World Spinoff

Jamie Campbell Bower has one of those roles in the Wizarding World that sticks in your brain even though he barely got any screen time. His young Gellert Grindelwald shows up in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and pops back in for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and that was basically it. But now that Bower blew up as Vecna in Stranger Things, the idea of him leading a proper Grindelwald spinoff suddenly feels less like a fan wish and more like a reasonable pitch. Warner Bros. is already cooking up a Harry Potter TV reboot for Max, so the door is cracked open.

Why Bower’s Grindelwald still has fans talking

Those early Grindelwald moments worked because Bower played him with surgical control: minimal expression, tight posture, and a steady, almost relaxed calm that reads as 'this guy is dangerous and knows it.' After Stranger Things made him a household name, fans online started connecting the dots and asking for more of that version of Grindelwald. The fit is obvious: darker chapters to explore, and an actor who already found the character’s temperature.

Personality-wise, Bower gravitates to characters who are messy and morally complicated. In GQ, he basically said he chases depth over 'nice,' and if that means he’s often the problem on screen, he’s fine with that. He also doesn’t approach these roles like cardboard villains; he wants to understand them from the inside out.

"I am certainly able to view him as a point of conflict. But in terms of, like, is he evil or villainous? I mean, I understand him, and I love him. And I relate to him... I understand him, and so I am always gonna be on his side."

How Grindelwald helped build Vecna

There’s a clear line between what made young Grindelwald pop and what made Vecna work. Bower leaned on stillness and precision to create a quiet, focused threat as Grindelwald; then he dialed that up for Henry Creel/001. The slow steps, the measured gestures, the sense that every movement is intentional—it’s the same toolkit applied to a different monster.

On the nerdy process side, he spent months recording and testing different tones before landing on Vecna’s deep, unsettling voice (via EW). That internal build—the 'why' before the 'what'—is how he makes his antagonists feel grounded. In both cases, the villain isn’t chaos for chaos’s sake. He’s driven by belief, which is why Bower’s calm intensity reads so well in two totally different franchises.

So what would a Grindelwald series actually cover?

The best part is the canon has huge blanks that the films never touched. You’ve got:

- Grindelwald’s early years at Durmstrang, including his expulsion for dark magic experiments.

- His travels across Europe studying forbidden spells, laying the groundwork for the movement he will build later.

- The Godric’s Hollow era with young Albus Dumbledore—their friendship, their shared philosophy, and the catastrophic duel that detonates both families.

All of that is referenced in the books and barely dramatized on screen. If Warner Bros. is serious about expanding the Wizarding World on TV, a limited series centered on those formative years is structurally clean and tailor-made for Bower’s strengths.

The Fantastic Beasts context (and why a pivot makes sense)

David Yates steered all three Fantastic Beasts films for Warner Bros. Pictures and Heyday Films, but the returns—both critical and financial—slid each time. Here’s the quick snapshot:

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) - Director: David Yates; Producers: Warner Bros. Pictures, Heyday Films; IMDb: 7.2/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 74%; Worldwide box office: $816 million.
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) - Director: David Yates; Producers: Warner Bros. Pictures, Heyday Films; IMDb: 6.5/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 36%; Worldwide box office: $655 million.
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) - Director: David Yates; Producers: Warner Bros. Pictures, Heyday Films; IMDb: 6.2/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 46%; Worldwide box office: $407 million.

Given that trend, a tighter, character-first series built around a compelling actor and a mythic chunk of lore feels like the smart play—especially with the reboot energy already swirling at Max.

Bottom line

Bower’s young Grindelwald is an underused asset: memorable in minutes, and even more promising now that he’s proven how far he can take a nuanced villain. A spinoff that digs into Durmstrang, the European wander years, and the Godric’s Hollow fallout? That’s not just fan service—it fills real gaps in the story.

Should Bower come back as Grindelwald? Drop your take in the comments.

Also, Stranger Things is on Netflix, and the Harry Potter films are on HBO Max.