New 'Fantastic Beasts' Scenes Are Here!

Every friend group has that one person who always needs to be talked down after getting easily excited, and in my case, that friend is me. When I first heard that J.K. Rowling was writing a spinoff movie to her Harry Potter kingdom, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , I couldn't have been more pumped — that is, until the worries kicked in. Sure, the concept of the movie — Newt Scamander, a young English guy with a suitcase full of magical creatures, comes to the U.S. and chaos ensues — sounded intriguing, but as someone who adores Harry and all his wizard friends, I got nervous the new film would ruin the Potter legacy. And those worries haven't abated now that I've seen the new Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them behind-the-scenes featurette.

Although I know rationally that no movie could ever take away the love I have for Harry Potter, I still have reason to be concerned. Yes, the new clip looks great in many ways, but my greatest fear with this movie is that it's trying too hard to please everyone and will somehow end up disappointing. That concern comes mainly from three things: Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, the story's setting of 1920s New York, and the fact that there is a muggle or no-maj character chilling with the main magical crew.

Let me explain. First, let's start with Eddie Redmayne, because, well, why not? He's dreamy.

My fear about Redmayne is not that he won't do a good job as Newt Scamander, because as we all know, he's splendid. The actor couldn't do a bad job at anything. The reason I'm nervous is that with him as the movie's star, everyone else will pale in comparison. According the featurette, there are three other characters working mostly alongside Redmayne's character: Katherine Waterston as Porpentina Goldstein, Alison Sudoi as Queenie Goldstein, and Dan Folger as Jacob Kowalski. These actors all have impressive resumes, yes, but against Redmayne, it's unclear how they'll stack up. And then there's my worry about Fantastic Beasts' '20s U.S. setting. Sure, that era was plenty of fun, but I can't help but feel that this time period, one awash in modern-day nostalgia, is pandering to the audience. The filmmakers might get so excited about the details of making a '20s-set movie that it will dampen the quality of the story. Period pieces are tough to keep from being boring or badly told, even if magic is involved.

And finally, my third concern: the inclusion of a muggle character. (Sorry, J.K. Rowling, no-maj just doesn't work for me.) Folger's Jacob is a non-magical character who somehow finds himself tangled up in Newt's mess, and in some ways, this is what fans have always wanted: a muggle who gets to hang out with witches and wizards. But let's be real, normal people getting all tangled up in the wizarding world never seems to end well. Remember how Hermione had to send her parents off so they would never see her again, or how Voldemort's muggle-father got love-spelled and later murdered. A happy and lovely ending for Folger's character seems unlikely, and while that may make for good drama, i don't love having to worry about the fate of a non-magical character when all I want to do is worship my all-wizard cast.

Alright, I'm aware I'm just being nitpicky. But it's only because I love Rowling and Harry Potter so much that I can't bear the idea of being disappointed by the new movie. Like many others, I've been burned too many times by big franchises, and I've put far too much trust in the world of Harry Potter to tolerate it letting me down. Still, I'm sure that come November 2016, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will prove me wrong, and when it does, with the movie being everything I could have ever hoped for, I'll be able to enjoy it that much more.

Watch the intriguing featurette below:

Images: Warner Brothers, Giphy