The ‘Secrets’ Revealed at the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Press Conference

It’s hard to believe it’s been over 10 years since the final Harry Potter movie debuted in theaters. And since then, we’ve seen the Wizarding World expand significantly. With sites like Pottermore, upcoming games like the highly anticipated Hogwarts Legacy, and of course the Fantastic Beasts film franchise, we know (for better or worse) the Hogwarts Express is just going to continue chugging along, as the stories continue.

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Final Trailer Released for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’

This is the week, Wizarding World fans! This Friday, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore hits theaters, and if you haven’t seen it yet, check out our interview with the amazing Jessica Williams. In addition to our interview, you can also check out the latest trailer for the film that WB just dropped today.

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Jessica Williams Dishes on Lally Hicks and ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’

The latest chapter in the Wizarding World saga hits theaters this Friday! After a long awaited delay, due to the pandemic, Newt Scamander and all of his Fantastic Beasts will be returning to screens, and they’re unveiling The Secrets of Dumbledore. Chief among the ranks of Dumbledore’s first army is Ilvermorny professor, Eulalie “Lally” Hicks, played by franchise newcomer, the incomparable and wonderful Jessica Williams. We had a chance to sit down with Jessica to discuss all of the secrets of Dumbledore, as well as her work bringing to life this welcome addition to the Wizarding World!

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NOC Review: ‘Secrets of Dumbledore’ is Not Bad, Not Quite ‘Fantastic’

The Wizarding World is in peril, both from a narrative standpoint, and a real-world one. Indeed, the franchise has had one hell of an uphill battle to conquer. What once stood as the crown jewel of Warner Bros. has been marred with controversy since the previous installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise debuted in 2018.

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Accio New Trailer for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’

After a slight delay last week, today Warner Bros. has released both the new trailer and poster for the next anticipated Wizarding World installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore! The film will be a continuation of the prequel series that began with 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. But the story, it seems, will now expand into the beginning of the Global Wizarding War between Dumbledore’s first army and Grindelwald.

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UPDATED: First Trailer for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ is Revealed

This April, a test is coming to the Wizarding World. And it’ll be one that’s bigger than anything the narratives of the films and books may cover. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third installment in the planned 5-film Newt Scamander series, will be debuting. And today, after many delays, the folks at WB have finally debuted the first trailer for the upcoming film. This will be a true test to see if there’s magic left in a franchise that has seen many, many challenges over the past few years.

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‘Fantastic Beasts’ and Where to Find Diversity in Hollywood: An Interview With Claudia Kim

“Who Will Change the Future?” That’s the tagline of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the latest eagerly anticipated installment in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise. It’s also the biggest question surrounding the fate of diversification in Hollywood casting, and one that Rowling’s franchise might be playing a significant role in.

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Hard NOC Life: Tracking Trailers for ‘Joker,’ ‘Bumblebee,’ ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ and More

This week on Hard NOC Life, Shawn and Keith are joined by We’re Not All Ninjas co-host Melissa Slaughter to run down all the trailers that just dropped this week (there are so many, we didn’t get to talk about Creed II or X-Men: Dark Phoenix)!

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The Final ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Trailer is Out Now and Action Packed

The trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Crimes of Grindelwald is finally out! Here’s hoping the movie can keep up with all of the plot lines that the trailer packed in. Below is a rundown for a few magical extras in this fantastical sequel. Spoilers start now!

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Fantastic Beasts is Not So Fantastic with Diversity

Update 11/25/16: The original version of this post stated that Tina was simply white. I have since realized that Tina’s full name is Porpentina Goldstein, and that she and her sister Queenie are likely of Jewish descent (and thus both have only conditional whiteness). I have updated the post with this information in mind. 

The Harry Potter universe is a world that’s followed most of us since we were kids. While in many respects it’s aged along with us — we see Harry grow up and have kids, and the film Fantastic Beasts is certainly aimed at an older audience — in other aspects it has remained disappointingly behind the times. In particular, Fantastic Beasts is yet another example in the Potterverse of how marginalized folks, particularly queer people and/or people of color, continue to be exactly that: marginalized.

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Magic in North America: The Harry Potter Franchise Veers Too Close to Home

by Dr. Adrienne Keene | Originally posted at Native Appropriations

Remember back in June when it was announced that the new Harry Potter prequel-of-sorts had an American Wizarding school? Remember how I was concerned? If you don’t, here’s a link to that post.

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“Eventually” Isn’t Enough: The Lack of Diversity in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

[Ed. note: Since EW.com just revealed an exclusive first look at next year’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, we’re reposting this piece that originally appeared on The Mary Sue in September.]

All Potterheads were excited when it was announced that a new movie was coming out (even if we were sad it wasn’t a Marauders prequel). And some fans were excited because with a new cast, it meant an opportunity for people of color to become main characters in a series whose fans span the globe.

J.K. Rowling herself spurred many of the theories that Fantastic Beasts could feature a more diverse cast than the Harry Potter franchise. (The film series as a whole only features 0.47% of lines spoken by people of color, according to the Every Single Word video series.) Over on Pottermore, she described Newt Scamander’s (author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) grandson Rolf as “swarthy,” a word which means “dark-skinned.” Many fans figured this could mean that Newt himself could be black.

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An Open Letter to J.K. Rowling about the American Wizarding School in Fantastic Beasts

by Dr. Adrienne Keene | Originally posted at Native Appropriations

Dear J.K. Rowling,

I am unabashedly a huge Harry Potter fan. I first encountered Harry when I was in Junior High, volunteering at the public library (nerd status, I know). The children’s librarian handed me book one, and I was hooked. I even used to frequent Harry Potter message boards back in the day with my friend Kathleen (we were “Parvati” and “Lavender” cause we also shared an interest in divination, ha). Anyway, all this is to say, Harry holds a sacred spot in my heart. But I’m not one of those fans who can recite things verbatim, or remember every tiny detail, so if I’m missing something, I hope one of those fans will help me out.

I’ve been interestedly following the news that there is a new Harry Potter prequel-of-sorts in the works, for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, following “magizoologist” Newt Scamander. I hadn’t been following it closely, but a few days ago, I saw your exchanges on Twitter about the name/location of the American Wizarding School — and I started to get a bit concerned.

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