Though Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore wasn’t without its issues, one of its biggest shortcomings could actually make Fantastic Beasts 4 a significant improvement for the franchise. The colossal success of the Harry Potter franchise meant that a huge cinematic hole was left by the boy wizard after his Wizarding World saga was finished. The resulting demand for further exploration of Harry Potter‘s world led to the development of the Fantastic Beasts spin-off prequel franchise: set roughly six decades prior to the events of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them introduced Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander.
A Hogwarts graduate and magizoologist who finds himself caught up in the machinations of the dark wizard Grindelwald, Scamander first navigates American wizarding society in a world on the brink of war. Bolstered by a large ensemble cast of characters, the Fantastic Beasts franchise continued with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and then Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, both of which expanded the franchise’s horizons by introducing new elements and characters. The intention was clearly to flesh out the already rich world of the Harry Potter franchise by establishing a historical context through Fantastic Beasts’ original story, but the results so far have been decidedly mixed.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was perhaps the most divisive film of the franchise so far, but it was undeniably filled with ambition – too much so, in fact. Instead of simply continuing the story of the previous movies, Fantastic Beasts 3 retconned some ideas while simultaneously introducing new ones, and it also featured new characters, locations, and elements of wizarding society that had never before been established. In many ways, Secrets of Dumbledore overreached with regard to its story, but though that excessive worldbuilding hurt the film, it actually sets up Fantastic Beasts 4 to potentially be the best of the franchise so far.
Secrets Of Dumbledore Tried To Do Way Too Much
Though the Fantastic Beasts movies are generally considered to be vastly inferior to the Harry Potter franchise, Secrets of Dumbledore seemed to double down on the spin-off’s worst trend. Putting far too much emphasis on the wizarding world itself by shoehorning in vast amounts of exposition and societal context only served to weaken the film’s individual story. This was a key contributor to Fantastic Beasts 3‘s mixed reviews: the third film of the franchise was so bloated that it simply didn’t explore any of its best ideas in adequate depth.
As well as affording plenty of screen time to Mads Mikkelsen’s new Grindelwald in order to fully establish his villainous nature, Secrets of Dumbledore also explored the mystery of Credence’s parentage, explained the nature of politics in the wizarding world, introduced several new magical creatures, and returned to Hogwarts in a fairly transparent attempt at building a better connection to the Harry Potter franchise. There were so many ideas crammed into the film that it was swamped with narrative dissonance, and none of its most interesting developments felt appropriately fleshed out. Though Secrets of Dumbledore tried to make some interesting changes to Harry Potter canon, none of them were actually properly executed, simply because the film overextended itself by trying to do too much.
Secrets Of Dumbledore Makes The Fantastic Beasts Universe Much More Interesting
Many of the subtle ways in which Secrets of Dumbledore revises the Fantastic Beasts franchise actually make the universe feel more interesting. Although it started life as a spin-off designed to flesh out Harry Potter‘s history, it has since evolved to become an exploration of Dumbledore’s backstory and his relationship with Grindelwald. Whereas The Crimes of Grindelwald simply explored the story teases of the first film, Secrets of Dumbledore actually expanded on the franchise in earnest by introducing a number of new ideas and broadening its horizons.
Without directly setting up a sequel, Secrets of Dumbledore teased an interesting future for the Fantastic Beasts franchise. In many ways, Secrets of Dumbledore fixed Fantastic Beasts‘ problems: it better establishes the interpersonal dynamics between many of its characters, and it finally began to acknowledge Dumbledore’s relationship with Grindelwald. Though it tried to do too much, the specific narrative developments of Secrets of Dumbledore were good for the franchise as a whole – in short, Fantastic Beasts 3 was held back by the fact that it had to correct the mistakes of its predecessors, but it teases a much brighter future for the franchise.
How Fantastic Beasts 4 Can Be The Best Of The Franchise
Considering the many ways in which Secrets of Dumbledore has attempted to fix the franchise’s problems, Fantastic Beasts 4 has the potential to be the franchise’s best film. Secrets of Dumbledore set up Fantastic Beasts 4‘s story in a number of particularly exciting ways: most notably, with the pair’s pact broken, Dumbledore can openly oppose Grindelwald, setting the stage for an all-out wizarding war. Secrets of Dumbledore also sees Credence embrace his identity as a Dumbledore, reconciling with his father, Aberforth, meaning he could potentially be a powerful ally for Newt and Albus against Grindelwald.
By expanding the franchise considerably, Secrets of Dumbledore has opened the doors for many interesting developments in Fantastic Beasts 4. There are many ways in which the sequel could pay off Secrets of Dumbledore‘s extensive worldbuilding, and all of them would likely contribute to making it a far better film than its predecessors. Though Secrets of Dumbledore may have been lacking in the execution of its own story, it succeeded in setting the stage for an epic duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, which could help Fantastic Beasts 4 finally deliver on the franchise’s potential.
Secrets Of Dumbledore’s Failures Make Fantastic Beasts 4 Unlikely
Though Fantastic Beasts 4 certainly has potential, the failures of Secrets of Dumbledore may spell doom for the franchise’s future. Mixed critical reception and general box office disappointment have cast doubt on Fantastic Beasts 4‘s chances. What’s more, the studio’s reluctance to greenlight the sequel is obvious – making it seem as though the franchise may well be finished.
Ironically, by overextending itself in an attempt to save the franchise, Secrets of Dumbledore may have doomed it instead. After all, the first two films in the franchise were also divisive, contributing to Fantastic Beasts‘ overall reputation as an unworthy successor to Harry Potter. Whether Fantastic Beasts 4 will actually be made remains to be seen, but Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore seemingly sacrificed its own quality in order to give the sequel a better chance at saving the franchise.
