Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald - Has J.K. Rowling Become George Lucas?

3. Misunderstanding The Fans

Another shared aspect of Star Wars and Harry Potter is that both have not only huge fanbases, but extremely rabid ones. There are few who can match Star Wars diehards in their obsessiveness, their passion, and their attention to detail, but Potterheads would give them a run for their galleons. Even though Lucas and Rowling may have created these worlds, they are now so much bigger than either of them, and while changes are ultimately up to the person writing the stories, there's also an assumed level of fan-ownership at play. And that's something neither quite seemed to get a handle on.

Lucas has long been at odds with Star Wars fans. He's declared it to be for 12-year-olds, and you can see in the changes to the special editions and the prequels too that he was singularly focused on what he wanted, fandom be damned. Look at how he viewed Han Solo, and why he completely fudged him shooting Greedo first, compared to the fan response to that and the reasons they love Han as a character. Or look at the reasons the original movies became so popular, with its epic battles, touches of humour, stunning visuals, practical effects, great characters worth investing in, and an overall sense of wonder. Lucas chose to ignore almost all of that, focusing on trade negotiations, burgeoning CGI technology, and what could sell merchandise.

Rowling hasn't gone quite that far in terms of merchandising, although part of Fantastic Beasts' appeal to the higher-ups at Warner Bros is surely just how many toys they can sell for each movie, but has shown a similar misunderstanding of fans - and also a tendency to react negatively and defensively to any sort of backlash. Through the books, and then films, the world she created was one that, though not particularly diverse, was inclusive. That's what, even though it wasn't established in the books, many celebrated her announcement that Dumbledore was gay. But then you look at how clumsily that's been handled ever since - and especially with regards to Fantastic Beasts 2 - and things like her steadfast defence of Johnny Depp, or turning Nagini into an actual woman (complete with debate over the word's origins and the implications of such), and a general sense of 'I'm right, you're wrong; this is my toy and I'll do as I please'. Many Potter fans will ultimately accept whatever she decides because, well, she's J.K. Rowling, but the various backlashes to her changes and decisions display a disconnect that's similar to the bridge that opened up between Lucas and Star Wars fans.

Next Page: Taking Back Control