Warning: Contains Spoilers For Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore!
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is the third installment in the Fantastic Beasts prequel movie series, but with its creator mired in external controversies and the film debuting with the worst box office performance in Harry Potter history, perhaps this film should end the franchise. Directed by David Yates, Fantastic Beasts 3 first released domestically on 15th April 2022 to a decidedly mixed bag of reviews, with many critics citing the film's distinct pivot away from Newt Scamander's (Eddie Redmayne) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them original narrative. Yet if Warner Bros. wants the opportunity to finish the franchise with relatively few cliffhangers, now is the time to do it.
Focusing more on Jude Law's Albus Dumbledore and Mads Mikkelsen's Gellert Grindelwald, The Secrets of Dumbledore finally sees the blood pact undertaken by the former lovers vanquished after the two wizards' spells inadvertently destroy it. Yates' film also sees Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) revealed to be Albus' nephew, Aurelius Dumbledore before passing away in his father's arms. These ending story arcs, coupled with the long-awaited wedding of Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) and Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), mean The Secrets of Dumbledore wraps up the majority of the Fantastic Beasts storylines very neatly indeed.
As a result, The Secrets of Dumbledore could feasibly work as a finale to a Fantastic Beasts trilogy without the need for the planned two subsequent films. Fantastic Beasts 3 concludes a number of intriiguing plots, including Newt and Tina's (Katherine Waterston) will-they-won't-they romance, the resolution of the blood pact, and the Kowalski wedding. Aside from Dumbledore and Grindelwald's final duel in 1945, which is planned for a future Fantastic Beasts movie, there is little else narrative-wise for the franchise to fall back - meaning it definitely does not need Fantastic Beasts 4.
After the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Dumbledore's conflict with Grindelwald quickly becomes the driving force behind the Fantastic Beasts series. Yet with this plot point resolved and Grindelwald all but defeated, there is not much point in showing the final conflict between the two. The fact that Grindelwald survives the Fantastic Beasts movies due to his brief appearance opposite Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 means there is not a great deal of dramatic tension left to be resolved in Dumbledore and Grindelwald's story arc given both wizards survive their final confrontation.
Additionally, J.K. Rowling's recent controversy is attracting unwanted attention to the Fantastic Beasts franchise, and its weak box office performance suggests that the series is in decline. Paired with the recent controversy surrounding one of its stars, Ezra Miller, Warner Bros. may look to cut its losses and conclude the franchise with The Secrets of Dumbledore. If the series ends now, it could go out with dignity, avoiding the criticism that some leverage towards Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, another prequel series that did not live up to its acclaimed predecessor. Ending the series with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore may be the best thing for JK Rowling's Wizarding World, as its story is neatly wrapped up and could conclude well with this movie.