How to Reboot the Wizarding World
I have been a huge fan of Harry Potter since I was in the 5th grade back in 2002. My story is not that unique… At the time only the first four books were released and I eagerly awaited the release of each new book, reading and rereading the series multiple times as I went along. I saw almost every movie on opening weekend, including the more recent spinoffs. And I still regularly reread the series every few years. Like many, I have lost all respect for the author as of late, but the books have such deep meaning to me, that I continue to enjoy them for what they are.
Also, like many, I was incredibly disappointed with the attempts to keep the film series going with the Fantastic Beasts series. The first one was mostly good, with just a few curious decisions and the next two were steep declines in quality. Had the films chosen to be fun tales of Newt Scamander traveling the world and getting into hijinx with various magical creatures, they could have been great. But by shoehorning the series into the story of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, they made both stories worse, more confusing, and boring.
Rumors have been flying lately of an upcoming reboot. I don’t know if these rumors are remotely true, but I figure eventually, there will be a reboot of some kind. So today, I’ve decided to give my pitch here for what could be a very successful cinematic universe and hopefully please a lot of fans.
I think it is much too soon to release any films. Therefore my pitch is for several interconnected TV series that Warner Brothers can release on HBO Max and easily compete with Disney+’s Star Wars and Marvel TV shows and compare to the likes of Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon, The Witcher, and Lord of the Rings/Rings of Power. Most of these ideas have probably been pitched by various others before me, but I wanted to combine ideas I’ve heard with a few unique ideas of my own to hopefully create an interesting world.
The Founders
The series to kick the cinematic universe off would take place in the 10th century and tell the story of the four founders of Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Starting so far away from the story of Harry Potter would give us some distance from the previous movies and ease people into the idea of a rebooted world.
The first season of The Founders would see the four wizards and witches meeting, becoming friends, and defeating a foe of some kind, which would bring them to the realization that they should form an institution to train young wizards and witches. The final image of the first season would be the foursome standing on a plot of land between a black lake and an enchanted forest.
Later seasons could show them constructing the castle, developing the structure of the school, opening the school, arguing about how to run things, and eventually concluding with Salazar Slytherin leaving the school. I envision The Founders being four or five seasons long.
The Marauders
Beginning around their fifth year at Hogwarts, this series would tell the story of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lilly Evans, Severus Snape, and many other characters at Hogwarts at that time. The first season would take place throughout their final three years at Hogwarts and conclude with the main cast preparing to enter a world at war.
Throughout later seasons, we would experience the first war against Voldemort, the marriage of James and Lilly, the birth of their son, and eventually their murders. The show would conclude with the aftermath of the first wizarding war, the arrest of Sirius Black, and Severus Snape taking up his position of Potions Master at Hogwarts.
The Actual Harry Potter Reboot
I would probably just call this series “Harry Potter,” but this is where we finally see Harry Potter properly rebooted. I would not air the first episode of this show until the first season of The Founders and the first season of The Marauders had both concluded.
This series would follow closely the events of the Harry Potter books. The first three books would each get one season and the later books would get two or more seasons, as needed. To keep the story more interesting and not just a complete retread of the films, we would shift to focus more on an ensemble cast. Harry would still be at the center of it all, but we would get to see scenes and perspectives that were not able to be included in the books or films. This would have to be masterfully written so as to not ruin any twists or spoilers, and without changing the continuity in any major way.
It would be fun to see some of the events we see in flashbacks or in the pensieve featuring the cast from the Marauders and other spinoff shows (yet to be discussed), as well as scenes establishing that other events were happening in the Wizarding World and even at Hogwarts than just what Harry Potter experienced himself.
A History of Magic (anthology)
This series would be a fun way to explore the Wizarding World and tell stories that are not substantial enough to carry their own series. Each episode could take place anywhere in the world and at any time period. Technically, the series could begin at any point and go on for an indefinite amount of seasons, but I think it would be wise to really establish the rebooted universe before mixing things up with an anthology such as this. Once the first few shows have aired though, this show could air whenever ready.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
This series would technically be another anthology and so could release at any time. This anthology would be a limited series and a direct adaption of the book of the same name. I think this would be fun to be animated and I envision taking a page out of Star Wars Visions and allowing each episode to be produced by a different animation studio that could put its own spin on the stories (assuming they preserve the important story elements).
Ilvermorny
This series would be an adaptation of the story of the North American school of magic, originally posted on Pottermore in 2016. The story is in my opinion, one of the best and most interesting things the author has written post-Deathly Hallows and I would absolutely love to see it on screen. I think this show could be a limited series, or could easily be scaled up to 3 or 4 seasons if done right.
Quidditch Through the Ages
This series would be a fun anthology of sports stories set in the Wizarding World. No epic battles of good and evil. Just classic sports movies, but all centered around Quidditch.
The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore
After the fiasco that was the Fantastic Beasts films, approaching the story of Dumbledore would have to be a delicate process. However, I think a series of maybe twelve episodes from Dumbledore’s life could be really interesting. We could see his time at Hogwarts, his summer with Grindelwald, his early career, his epic battle with Grindelwald, Tom Riddle at Hogwarts, and his research on Voldemort’s life. To keep this interesting, it could be told through narration by Rita Skeeter, thereby leaving many of the events unclear as to how accurate they are. Or maybe it would be better as a straightforward narrative. Personally, I’m good with either one.
Conclusion
I know a lot of people have just moved on entirely from Harry Potter at this point, but unfortunately, I cannot see myself doing so any time soon. And if anyone is more likely to cling to the story of the Boy Who Lived than me, it is Warner Brothers. More films, TV shows, a reboot, something is coming eventually. I just hope that they really do it right this time.
I hope you enjoyed my pitches and I would love to hear your ideas as well! On the off chance that someone from Warner Brothers ever reads this, please feel free to use any or all of my ideas, just please, do them WELL.