Is the Wizarding World about to become Star Wars thanks to Fantastic Beasts?
By Callum Gunn
Fantastic Beasts is in danger of turning the Wizarding World into Star Wars if it strays just a fraction off the desired path.
Reviews are beginning to pour in for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Some good, some bad, and according to Rotten Tomatoes it’s the worst installment of the Wizarding World. Regardless of the reviews, many of you will go and see the movie and decide for yourself what you think.
And rightly so. While at some point in the near future Wizards and Whatnot will post its very own review about Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. I firmly believe that you should see something for yourself and then decide if you like it or not, rather than base your opinion solely on a review. However, one review came across my screen that raised a really interesting question. Is the Wizarding World about to become Star Wars thanks to Fantastic Beasts?
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We all know how the Star Wars movies have played out. We had the original trilogy. The prequel trilogy. And now we have the current trilogy set after the original trilogy. Along with the odd spin-off/standalone movie.
And with every new movie that comes out, a new part of the Star Wars universe is created. And, with every new part of the universe that is created, a connection is made of some sorts to the previous Star War movies. This review that I came across points this out, explaining how Star Wars very quickly became less about the storytelling and more about making connections to other Star Wars movies/TV shows. Which is pretty much right on the money.
Now let me just point out, I love Star Wars. Not as much as the Wizarding World, but I am a huge fan. Heck, I write about Star Wars on the Wizards and Whatnot sister site Dork Side of the Force. I don’t like pointing out the flaws of fandoms I like, but it’s true. The Star Wars universe has become a massive encyclopedia of knowledge rather than about the stories.
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For example, many fans want an Obi-Wan spin-off movie. I want an Obi-Wan spin-off movie. But we really shouldn’t get one. Why? Because we already know what happened from the previous movies and TV shows. So what’s the point?
Another example is Solo: A Star Wars movie. A movie I really enjoyed. But when thinking about the story. I didn’t really learn anything significant. It looked cool and all, and it was nice seeing Han Solo do his thing, but everything I really enjoyed, I already knew. All the new stuff was just a build up, or an expansion, on what I had already known.
And this is what Fantstic Beasts runs the risk of doing. I don’t believe it is quite there yet, and hopefully, it will never get quite as far as that. But if they are not careful they will. With all the connections and trivia being made between both Fantastic Beasts and Harry Potter, the risk is there that they will suddenly forget about the overall storytelling and concentrate on nothing but expanding the Wizarding World knowledge, making connections here and there, and turn it into a walking encyclopedia, telling us what we already know.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with making connections between both Fantastic Beasts and Harry Potter, or any other potential future Wizarding World movies and TV shows. The problem is losing focus on the storytelling and making something just to show a connection that has more than likely already been explained. That’s the problem.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Fantstic Beasts doesn’t stray the Wizarding World into the same world that Star Wars has got itself into.
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What do you think? Do you see how the Wizarding World can head down the same path Star Wars has if it’s not careful with Fantastic Beasts? Drop a comment below sharing your thoughts.
You can see the full review by The Atlantic that brought up this idea here.