Fantastic Beasts 3 needs to be the end of Harry Potter prequel series
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Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has now arrived in cinemas, technically marking the midpoint of the five-movie Harry Potter prequel series.
After the muted response to The Crimes of Grindelwald (critically and commercially), the threequel didn't exactly have a smooth ride to the screen. Whether it was the recasting of Johnny Depp or the backlash against creator JK Rowling's tweets about transgender people, it felt like there was always a story bigger than the movie itself.
Now that it's arrived, critical consensus has been warmer than it was for the sequel and the box-office performance might show there's still a desire for the series to continue. But the real question is whether it should, regardless of what happens at the box office.
We'd argue that now is exactly the right time to end the Fantastic Beasts series – and even the ending of The Secrets of Dumbledore hints that might be the case too.
Back in 2013, there was genuine excitement from Harry Potter fans that Rowling was returning to the Wizarding World to bring Fantastic Beasts to the screen.
Originally conceived as a trilogy, it was expanded to five movies shortly before the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. There might have been concern about how the story would stretch as long with only one Fantastic Beasts book, but the first movie got the series off to a solid start.
It was warmly received by the critics (74% on Rotten Tomatoes) and grossed $814 million worldwide. There was hope that with the foundation laid, the series could replicate the magic of the Harry Potter series and keep muggles entertained for years to come.
However, cracks were already beginning to show in the Wizarding World. Some fans were unhappy that Johnny Depp's role as Gellert Grindelwald wasn't recast for the sequel.
Depp faced accusations of domestic violence, which he strongly denied, from his ex-wife Amber Heard during their divorce proceedings. Heard withdrew her request for a restraining order as the couple reached a settlement in their court case. Rowling had defended the casting of Depp and he appeared as Grindelwald in the sequel.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald came out in November 2018, and faced a new wave of controversy over its content. The handling of Nagini's storyline was accused by some fans of being racially insensitive, while there was also criticism that Dumbledore's sexuality was effectively being kept in the closet.
But it wasn't just the storyline backlash that the sequel had to face. Reviews were scathing (36% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it felt like it was two hours of setup for what's to come in the three sequels. Box office also took a significant dip to $655 million worldwide, the lowest in the entire Harry Potter series.
Warner Bros promised that it knew how to make the third movie better, but in the extended delay for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the story behind the movies continued to be bigger than the movies themselves.
There's been a backlash against JK Rowling for her tweets about transgender people, as well as against an essay she published in June 2020 in response to the criticism. Rowling has continued to tweet about these issues, including on the same day that the first trailer for the threequel was released.
What's more, the build-up to the third movie also saw Depp resign from the role as Grindelwald in November 2020, shortly after he lost his legal battle against The Sun. The role was recast with Mads Mikkelsen but, in a reverse of the build-up to the sequel, Depp fans have said they'll boycott The Secrets of Dumbledore as a result.
There have also been concerns over Ezra Miller, who plays Credence Barebone in the series. In April 2020, a video was released online in a since-deleted tweet that appeared to show Miller choking a female fan. They haven't commented on the video and it's not confirmed to be Miller.
In late March 2022, Miller was arrested at a Hawaii bar and subsequently charged with disorderly conduct and harassment. The incident happened just a day before The Secrets of Dumbledore's world premiere, but it's been reported that Miller was never due to attend it as a result of commitments to The Flash (via Rolling Stone).
All of that leads us to the actual release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. It's been better received by critics, but you can't help viewing it as hedging its bets in case this truly is the end of the series.
We're going to delve into the ending of the threequel to show how it could be an effective finale to the overall series, rather than just the third movie of a five-movie series. Major spoilers follow, so don't read on past the photo if you haven't seen the movie yet.
The third movie sees Grindelwald attempt to use nefarious means to become the new Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) means to stop him, but their blood pact prevents him moving against his former lover.
There's a lot that happens during The Secrets of Dumbledore, but it's mostly all red herrings as Newt (Eddie Redmayne) and his team head on various missions with the aim of confusing Grindelwald.
It all comes to a head at the election where our heroes must get a real Qilin to the election, rather than the zombified one that Grindelwald has. The Qilin will bow in front of who should be the next Supreme Mugwump and, initially, it seems as though Grindelwald's plan has worked.
However, Bunty (Victoria Yeates) gets the real Qilin there and even though Grindelwald has technically been elected, the confederation changes its mind when Grindelwald's scheme is revealed.
Credence helps to expose Grindelwald's villainous plot and Grindelwald tries to kill him, but Dumbledore manages to stop him. The blood pact pendant breaks, leading to a brief battle between the two which is ended when both of them realise they don't actually want to kill each other.
Grindelwald escapes, Vicência Santos (Maria Fernanda Cândido) is elected Supreme Mugwump and Credence is reunited with his father Aberforth (Richard Coyle) who takes him home, presumably to die as Credence is slowly dying from the Obscurus inside of him.
The final scene sees Newt and Tina (Katherine Waterston) reunite at the wedding of Queenie (Alison Sudol) and Jacob (Dan Fogler). Dumbledore pops by to thank Newt and Newt says that if he ever needs his help again, he'd "do it again".
Given that the success of the third movie is far from assured, it's hard not to read the events of the finale as a potential capper to the franchise. And given everything that's happened behind the scenes with this franchise, we hope that the opportunity is taken to end the Fantastic Beasts saga as a trilogy.
The Secrets of Dumbledore manages to wrap up a few lingering questions for Harry Potter fans, starting with Credence's origin. It turns out that he is a Dumbledore and is Aberforth's son from a previous relationship, who Albus had no clue about. (We don't know if he's legitimately called Aurelius though.)
What's more, the threequel also confirms a long-running fan theory that Albus and Aberforth's sister Ariana was an Obscurial like Credence. It's how Albus knows that Credence is slowly dying, because that's the fate of Obscurials.
It's also revealed that the battle between the Dumbledore brothers and Grindelwald that led to Ariana's death was a result of Albus and Gellert's relationship. Aberforth wasn't happy about their connection and an argument ensued, but nobody knows which was the spell that actually killed Ariana.
Talking of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, we know from canon that they eventually have a big battle in 1945, even though they had a blood pact. The climax of the third movie sees Dumbledore suggest that this pact ended because when Grindelwald attacked Credence, their "spells met" and one was trying to kill and the other protect.
Basically, their spells cancelled each other out and that balance somehow led to the destruction of the pendant. "Let's call it fate," Dumbledore tells Newt, which is as good of an explanation as we get.
The result of all this is that The Secrets of Dumbledore effectively wraps up this trilogy which, after the first movie, had evolved into being about Dumbledore and Grindelwald's relationship. There's no cliffhanger and nothing major left dangling, so it's as good a place as any to bring events to a close.
After all, Harry Potter fans know exactly where this is all heading. Rowling had previously said the five movies would cover Wizarding World events up to the year 1945. That's the year Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald and claimed the Elder Wand from him.
We're sure there are some fans that would love to see that play out on screen, but as has been the issue with the previous movies, that's more of a Harry Potter movie than a Fantastic Beasts movie. And when the end point is known and so much canon is established, where's the tension or the drama coming from?
In February 2022, producer David Heyman revealed that work had yet to begin on Fantastic Beasts 4. It suggests another lengthy gap between movies and as we've seen with the threequel, a lot can happen in two or three years.
Ending the Fantastic Beasts series now would leave a fairly well-rounded trilogy for fans to enjoy in future (should they wish). Otherwise, who's to say anybody will be left watching by the time Fantastic Beasts 5 rolls around?
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is out now in UK cinemas and in US cinemas on April 15.
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