Harry Potter TV Series Already Causing Controversy (What Else is New, Though?)

And more importantly, she still has significant control over the rights. So, when HBO Max announced a new 'decade-long' series that will be more authentic to the author's work than the previous films, opinion was bound to be divided.

On the one hand, there is still a huge demand for the movies, merchandise and studio tours related to the wizarding world. On the other, plenty of people feel Rowling shouldn't get public support for her work due to her views which are perceived by many as transphobic.

And the author will be involved as a writer and executive producer of the series. Which has led many to believe that, on this occasion at least, you cannot separate the art from the artist.

Max tried to deal with the issue. CEO Casey Bloys said the network is 'in the Harry Potter business' and that the conversation around Rowling is 'nuanced and complicated and not something we're going to get into'.

Bloys went on to say the whole story of Harry Potter is 'incredibly affirmative and positive about love and acceptance'.

But there are plenty out there who are against the idea and keen to say how they feel.

One critic tweeted the announcement comes 'with absolutely bullshit craven disdain for Rowling's political impact'.

Another suggested anybody interviewing someone connected to the series must lead with a question about 'JK Rowling leading a hate group'.

Others see the whole thing as just 'ten years of press events dragging her anti-trans agenda back into the news cycle'. Although whether this series is necessary to keep this story moving is debatable as it has never really left the public domain since Rowling first spoke up on the issue.

But it's not just critics who have had their say. One fan said the network should just 'be honest' and say it's a 'lucrative franchise' that will make them millions.

With production yet to begin, the controversy looks set to continue for over a decade. But whether that impacts the commercial success of the series is yet to be seen. The recent release of the video game Hogwarts Legacy came amid calls for a boycott but was a huge success, with 12 million copies being sold in a fortnight.

However, the highly anticipated Fantastic Beast series of films was reduced from five films to three after falling ticket sales.

Now, that could be because the controversy was still in its infancy at the time and people can be forgiving as time goes on. It could also simply be that the films were pretty poor and didn't really deserve their place in the franchise.

Or maybe gamers and Potterheads think differently. On the other hand, it might be that when you like the art, it's actually quite easy to separate it from the artist.