Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has been marred by controversy since 2016 when news of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s divorce first broke the news. When accusations of Depp’s physical abuse toward Heard leaked to the press, it seemed all bets were off for the popular Harry Potter spinoff.
Since then it has been pock-marked by one scandal after another, including a viral video of Ezra Miller allegedly assaulting a fan, which people thought would end Miller’s time as Credence Barebone, and J.K. Rowling publicly denouncing trans rights on several occasions. But somehow the franchise is still standing, albeit on uneven stilts, and on April 15, 2022, we will get yet another installment with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
If you’re itching to revisit the previous films then you’re not alone. After all, they’ve been so heavily spaced out due to the aforementioned controversy, but also the COVID-19 pandemic, which massively disrupted all Hollywood productions. Now that the third installment’s release is finally around the corner, it’s time to freshen up on the details we may have forgotten in the last four years.
Where to watch the first two films
Unlike all eight Harry Potter films, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and its sequel The Crimes of Grindelwald are not currently available to stream on HBO Max or Peacock in the U.S. (although Crimes of Grindelwald is available on HBO Max in Latin America). If they wish to freshen up on the happenings of the previous two installments, fans will have to buy their own versions or rent them from YouTube, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, AMC on Demand, and iTunes for $3.99.
For those who don’t mind tacking on another subscription to their bill, both Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Crimes of Grindelwald are currently available to stream on fuboTV and Sling TV.
Maybe one day HBO Max and Peacock will get both films – it wouldn’t come as a surprise – but for now a full Wizarding World movie marathon complete with all eight Harry Potter films and the two Fantastic Beasts films will have to be piecemealed from different streaming platform.