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5 Fantasy Shows HBO’s Harry Potter Remake Must Learn From (& Their Biggest Takeaways)
HBO’s Harry Potter remake has a daunting path ahead of it, but there are numerous fantasy shows it can learn from to overcome its biggest challenges. Rebooting a successful franchise is never an easy task. And the Harry Potter movies‘ legacy will be especially hard for the remake to match, much less surpass. The upcoming show must capture the magic of the prior adaptations while still setting itself apart from them. It must also appeal to multiple generations, drawing those who grew up with the story and finding ways to attract newcomers.
It’s a tall order, and even if it gets past those hurdles, there are others to clear. Many fantasy shows are canceled prematurely, as they often struggle to justify the budgets required to make them. Not all creators handle the genre well either, nor are all of them committed to delivering faithful adaptations. Of course, if the remake is successful, it could become one of the biggest fantasy projects since Game of Thrones. That places plenty of pressure on HBO to get it right. Fortunately, the network can look to projects from its own catalog and other streamers for help with that endeavor.
5) Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Disney’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians is the most obvious fantasy show the Harry Potter reboot can learn from. They both tackle beloved book series that ran through the 2000s — and they both follow movie adaptations with iconic, hard-to-replace casts. Of course, while the Percy Jackson films had fitting actors in the roles, the storytelling itself wasn’t all that successful. This likely helped audiences accept the new Disney+ show as a proper replacement. With the Harry Potter films having strong narratives and a near-perfect cast, the remake will have a harder job winning viewers over.
Even so, Percy Jackson & the Olympians remains an example of how to successfully shift to a new version of the story and a new cast. The Disney+ show doesn’t rely on nostalgia, nor does it overshadow its new actors by bringing the old ones in for cameos. Despite calls to cast actors like Tom Felton in new roles, the Harry Potter remake should learn from Percy Jackson & the Olympians‘ example and avoid this. Like Percy Jackson, it should also ensure the movies and show feel distinct from one another. And of course, Harry Potter could benefit from a more faithful approach to the books, which a TV show’s runtime allows for. Percy Jackson & the Olympians is proof of that.
4) His Dark Materials
Another second-chance adaptation after 2007’s critically panned The Golden Compass, His Dark Materials is one of the most underrated fantasy series to emerge in recent years. It does a commendable job of bringing Philip Pullman’s books to life, and perhaps its biggest strength is that it can appeal to both younger audiences and adults. Similar to Harry Potter, Pullman’s books are aimed at a middle-grade audience. They feature dark themes, but they also emphasize the power of goodness, love, and hope to overcome that darkness.
His Dark Materials conveys this well on-screen, but the series never feels preachy or childish. In fact, it’s quite mature considering the ages of its main characters and the books’ intended audience. As Harry Potter must reach a wide range of viewers, it should adopt a similar approach. The story’s darker moments should feel appropriately heavy, but they shouldn’t prevent older pre-teens and teenagers from watching the series. When it comes to getting the tone right, Harry Potter would be smart to copy His Dark Materials.
3) Wednesday
Hogwarts is probably the most iconic magic school setting in fantasy, and the Harry Potter remake only needs the books’ and movies’ depiction for inspiration. However, HBO’s iteration of Hogwarts should be at least a little different than what’s come before. And if the creators need another series to draw from, Netflix’s Wednesday is a great choice. In just two seasons, Nevermore Academy has become a recognizable and iconic fictional spot. That’s because it’s extremely atmospheric, and it could give the Harry Potter remake ideas on how to make the backdrop feel like its own character rather than a mere setting.
In addition to the physical aspects of Nevermore Academy, the Harry Potter show can also look to how its students interact with one another. Although Wednesday‘s primary focus isn’t teen drama or romance, it has a believable amount of both packed into its two seasons. It feels like the right amount for Harry Potter to embrace, as the books also see the Golden Trio and the other students engaging in romantic subplots and falling out with one another. Such parts of the books shouldn’t be the focal point of the show, but like Wednesday, it should work them in.
2) The Rings of Power
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is in the same unenviable position as the Harry Potter show, attempting to adapt source material that comes with high expectations — and doing so after a series of movies already set the bar high. Whether The Rings of Power succeeds at capturing J.R.R. Tolkien’s world depends on who you ask, as the Prime Video series has plenty of critics. One thing it gets right, however, its is depiction of the its villain. Whether it’s due to Charlie Vickers’ performance, the nuanced writing, or a combination of the two, The Rings of Power‘s take on Sauron is refreshing.
The Rings of Power makes Sauron’s motivations and personality feel more fleshed out than Peter Jackson’s movies, and really, even Tolkien’s source material. It builds on the latter, but it allows viewers to explore a new version of the character in more depth. Voldemort is another villain who often feels one-note throughout Harry Potter. The remake should follow The Rings of Power‘s lead and go deeper, especially now that it has the runway to.
1) Shadow and Bone
Shadow and Bone only ran for two seasons before Netflix canceled it, and its second outing received a more divided response than the first. Harry Potter can learn from the major complaints, which mostly stem from the show’s divergence from the source material. Although it changes things from the very beginning — the Crows aren’t part of Alina Starkov’s (Jessie Mei Li) story in the books — it’s noticeable and jarring in the second outing. It feels like the writers are trying to squeeze in as much of the later books as possible, which isn’t just disappointing for fans who wanted a proper adaptation; it also feels messy and bloated.
The Harry Potter show can learn from this by keeping each book to a single season, something the HBO remake’s 10-year plan suggests it will do. However, it could be tempting to shift storylines around or work foreshadowing into the plot earlier. Harry Potter’s writers should resist the urge to move things around, instead using each season to make the most of the books — most of which deliver their own contained stories.
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