To celebrate the US and UK release of Wizards Unite (lucky us, we’ve had it for weeks), Niantic released a new launch trailer for the game that is less about the actual gameplay of Wizards Unite which, like Go, is all about using your phone to travel to real-world locations to encounter augmented reality recreations of fantastical creatures and beings. Instead, it focuses on the fantasy behind that idea, and in doing so, makes a pretty convincing pitch for a modern-day Potter spinoff in the process.
Ordinary young wizarding folks not bound by ancient prophecies and Dark Lords Who Must Not Be Named just having to like, wander around 21st Century London protecting the muggles around them from a spate of magical forces leaking out into the world? Sort of low key Men in Black but with magic?
It’s honestly rather compelling.
Definitely a lot more compelling than allowing J.K. Rowling to ceaselessly re-litigate the Potter canon to excruciatingly dull (and often downright dumb) effect as she’s done across both Fantastic Beasts movies, that’s for sure.
Twisting the lens of the Wizarding World to primarily see it from the perspective of the muggle society—how both fantastical and dangerous it is—is a cool idea!
It’s a shame that it’s a concept that won’t be visited beyond whatever Wizards Unite has planned for its future while we get Fantastic B3asts: Nope, Still Not Gonna Say Dumbledore’s Gay In This One.