Harry Potter Needs An Animated Spin-Off Before Its Live-Action TV Reboot

Max's upcoming Harry Potter TV series is imminent and moving forward despite mixed fan reactions, but the Wizarding World might benefit more from an animated spin-off than another live-action reboot. Large multimedia franchises often scale down to smaller adaptations like animated series, which can offer high returns without the pressure of massive production costs.

Set to premiere in 2026, the Max Original series is already planned for a ten-year run, which has left fans divided, since the original Harry Potter films are still fresh in memory.

A reboot with new faces feels unwarranted to many and risks upsetting longtime Potterheads. Given there are millions of fans who watched the films even before reading the books, an animated approach could better preserve the magic of the franchise.

The Time Is Right for an Animated Harry Potter Spin-Off

J.K. Rowling's groundbreaking novels about The Boy Who Lived have been adapted into blockbuster films, spin-off prequels, stage productions, and even video games like Hogwarts Legacy. However, it’s surprising that the fantasy adventure has yet to explore animation, even 27 years after the first book's release. Now is the perfect time for the franchise to embrace this medium, and it doesn't have to be a complex Pixar-style production. The rise and success of "2.5D" animation, as seen in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, offers a more fluid artistic approach.

Just like the Spider-Verse films, an animated Harry Potter spin-off could coexist alongside the live-action films and the upcoming Max reboot without clashing with them. There’s a wealth of original material and characters that could be adapted into smaller stories that fans would love. In fact, when HBO’s reboot was first announced, many fans were clamoring for a fully animated series, ideally in a Studio Ghibli aesthetic often associated with Harry Potter fan art. But with the network's recent casting call confirming the live-action series is moving forward, it's clear that shifting to animation is no longer an option, and a separate animated spin-off series is all the more essential.

Casting presents the biggest risk, as Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are still etched in people’s minds as Harry, Hermione, and Ron. It's not just the main trio that would be missed – several veteran actors who played key characters have since passed away. This includes Alan Rickman (Snape), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), and the recently deceased Dame Maggie Smith (McGonagall), just to name a few. While recasting these roles isn’t an ethical concern, it’s still a challenge to honor their memory. Any actor stepping into these roles will face intense scrutiny. An animated spin-off series, however, could help ease this transition, since audiences would get accustomed to a voice cast before seeing new faces on screen.

New Stories and Tones for Harry Potter Spin-Offs

These spin-offs don’t need to be dark and serious like the final Harry Potter movies, and fans on Reddit have some ideas that HBO Max should be taking note of. An animated series could do something offbeat, like an intriguing procedural drama or even a buddy-cop comedy, focusing on the day-to-day lives of Aurors or Ministers of Magic. A great example of this style shift is Star Trek: Lower Decks, which tells a familiar story through minor, unfamiliar characters in the same universe. A similar approach would be retelling the events around Harry’s time at Hogwarts from the perspective of unknown students, professors, or even Muggles.

A new spin-off could also dive into stories the films barely touched, such as Snape’s friendship with Lily and how it evolved into unrequited love, or his complicated relationship with Dumbledore. There’s also a lot to unpack about Voldemort’s rise to power during the Second Wizarding War. So, an animated series can effectively showcase his reign of terror before his “death” and the creation of the Horcruxes. Another idea would be to go even further back in time to explore how Hogwarts was built from the ground up by the Four Founders. Show creators could borrow from Marvel's What If? To introduce elements from the upcoming series, and introduce viewers to new concepts or elements, much like Peggy’s Captain Carter animated storyline even before her live-action cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

All these ideas could be brought to life through animation without the high production costs required for live-action. The producers should learn from case studies of spin-offs like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which kept fans satisfied even when main investments in films kept falling short. But here, the producers seem fully invested in the live-action Harry Potter series, which is being touted as their next Game of Thrones-level IP. Introducing an animated series before the live-action premiere might cause scheduling conflicts, but it could still be the perfect medium to expand the world of magic.

Image

Harry Potter

Display card main info widget

Created by

J.K. Rowling

First Film

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Display card main info widget end

When Harry Potter learns that he is a wizard, he enters a world beyond belief. Aside from continuing his studies at Hogwarts with best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry must also face Voldemort and his dark wizarding forces. The Harry Potter franchise is a worldwide phenomenon, spanning seven books, eight movies, three spinoff movies, a stage play, and numerous video games.

Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Latest Film

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two

Cast

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane

Reunion Date

January 1, 2022

Where to watch

HBO Max

Spin-offs (Movies)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Expand Collapse