‘Fantastic Beasts’ Relies On Nostalgia To Lure Now-Grown-Up ‘Harry Potter’ Fans Back

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a spinoff of the famous Harry Potter series of books and movies, recently released its first full trailer. The first taste fans had for Fantastic Beasts happened when Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit cinemas last December. According to Forbes, this full trailer for Fantastic Beasts features the classic John Williams score remixed in a quirky fashion alongside a nostalgic feel with the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone theme towards the end.

The film series seemingly will follow a similar route to the Lord of The Rings series, which released The Hobbit as a trilogy. Ironically, it seems that the greatest worry Warner Bros. faces at the moment is the phenomenal success that all eight Harry Potter films enjoyed over the 10-year course of their release. The success of the film series went hand in hand with Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, both of which brought in between $900 million and $1 billion worldwide, becoming a new norm for Warner Bros. and leaving the company without a viable successor following the conclusion of both series in 2012.

‘Batman’ & ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Highlight Warner Bros. CinemaCon Panel https://t.co/jcbwctmp5d pic.twitter.com/d5lD1DlQQW

— MovieWeb (@movieweb) April 13, 2016

These days, Warner Bros. seems to be attempting to revitalize both of these series by giving the world the DC Extended Universe with films like Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Fantastic Beasts, the 70-year pseudo-prequel/spinoff to the beloved Harry Potter franchise. Experts say that in the best case scenario, the film will go toe to toe with Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy.

One very important factor to consider that bodes well for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is that the movie will drop five years after the last Harry Potter film and almost exactly 15 years after Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released, meaning that nostalgia will be a selling point. This particular film will possibly appeal more to now-grown-up fans of Harry Potter who have fond memories of the exciting days when new books and films from the Harry Potter universe were released on a regular basis.

Fantastic Beasts had some noteworthy elements found in the trailer. According to USA Today, the first trailer for Fantastic Beast reveals more about the new world around it than it seems.

In a voiceover towards the beginning of the trailer, the lead protagonist in the film, Newt Scamander, is revealed to have a connection to Dumbledore. The connection to Dumbledore goes a bit deeper, as it is later revealed that Newt was kicked out of Hogwarts for “endangering human life” and that Dumbledore fought to allow him to stay.

Hmm… Will Young Dumbledore apparate into #FantasticBeasts? https://t.co/3JB4IYRi1K pic.twitter.com/NhvwgLyadf

— MTV (@MTV) April 19, 2016

In addition, the city of New York, in which Fantastic Beasts is set, will apparently feature a counterpart to the Diagon Alley found in the London-based Harry Potter series. Just because the film is set in 1920s New York does not necessarily mean that the familiar world of magic will not be finding its way into the setting, as even a magical news publication is shown in the trailer along with moving bricks that hint of Diagon Alley.

The story of the film has a political underlining. Fantastic Beasts’ trailer featured a brief shot of a gathering of people in front of the American Flag with a propaganda banner that reads “SHAW: America’s Future.” Colin Farrell, who plays the antagonist Percival Graves, seems to be concerned with Newt. Is Percival a villain, or will he end up being Fantastic Beasts’ Snape? Ever since the first teaser dropped, Fantastic Beasts did not shy away from putting emphasis on Newt’s suitcase. Something is inside the suitcase, and fans are having a great time speculating as to what it could be. The suitcase also seems to have a Muggle mode, as it transforms into an unassuming briefcase at the flick of a switch.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them stars Eddie Redmayne and hits theaters on November 18.

[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for CinemaCon]