Harry Potter is one of the most recognizable new properties of the last several decades. The books were a phenomenon throughout the late ‘90s and 2000s, and the films were the defining cinematic events of a generation. Since the release of the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two, in 2011, the franchise has continued to grow through a number of new stories and adventures. The stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child served as a semi-sequel to the original stories, while films like the Fantastic Beasts series and games like the newly released Hogwarts Legacy have introduced fans to countless new characters and settings. With this continual success, it’s no wonder why Warner Bros. Discovery is so interested in keeping the brand alive.

However, the plan that WBD has for Harry Potter’s future is to, instead, just recreate the past. During the unveiling of the company’s new rebranding for HBO Max, now simply called Max, it was unveiled that the Harry Potter franchise will continue in the form of a reboot. They are starting over at the first book with a new cast, a new creative team, and a new medium for the story. Harry Potter will now be a Max original streaming show, with each season covering approximately one book in the beloved series. Sure, people will certainly be intrigued by this show, but rebooting Harry Potter instead of expanding its world is a major mistake. Here are 11 Harry Potter stories that WBD should be exploring instead of rebooting the series:

11 The Marauders

People have been asking for a more detailed exploration of the Marauders and their time in Hogwarts since the group was first introduced in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. For those who are unfamiliar, the Marauders were a group of Gryffindor classmates that consisted of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They were a close-knit group that had a knack for getting into all sorts of trouble around Hogwarts.

A Marauders show or movie would be about more than just Harry’s dad, his friends, and their hijinks at school, it would also detail Voldemort’s rise to power in the First Wizarding War. It would be a direct prequel to the core Harry Potter series, with numerous familiar characters.

10 The Cursed Child

Going the other direction, an adaptation of The Cursed Child would be a direct sequel to the Harry Potter series. Although the play certainly has its critics, there is a lot of interesting material within it that could make for a fantastic film or series. Plus, it would also be an excuse to bring back the core cast of the original film series. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint could return as Harry, Hermione, and Ron respectively.

Fans would love to see it, and it would be an assured box office success. The less-than-great aspects of the play could be adjusted to simplify and strengthen the story, giving The Cursed Child a better legacy than it currently has.

9 The Founding of Hogwarts

Another idea for a Harry Potter prequel is a story about the founding of Hogwarts itself. The founders of Hogwarts – Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin – were already thoroughly discussed throughout the Harry Potter series, and the shadows of their characters were cast over the entire thing.

Going back in time to actually meet these legendary characters could make for an exciting new way to experience the Wizarding World. These four are considered some of the most powerful witches and wizards of all time, and this series could show how they acquired that reputation. Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years before the events of the Harry Potter series, so this would also be a great way to explore how the world of the franchise differed at different points in time.

8 A Different Next-Generation Story

While we would love to see an adaptation of The Cursed Child, a direct sequel to the Harry Potter series doesn’t necessarily have to adapt the play. In fact, if WBD really wanted to, they could throw out The Cursed Child entirely and develop a story about the next generation of Hogwarts students from scratch. This would allow for new characterizations of the Potter, Malfoy, and Granger-Weasley children.

Just like The Cursed Child, it would also allow the likes of Radcliffe, Watson and Grint to return as well. The play has become pretty divisive among Harry Potter fans, so all the surrounding discourse could be avoided if WBD were to develop an entirely new story altogether.

7 Merlin

Another one of the most famous wizards in the Harry Potter franchise is Merlin, who served on the court of King Arthur. Very little is known about Merlin’s life in the Harry Potter franchise, aside from the fact that he attended Hogwarts and was sorted into the House Slytherin. Traveling back to tell the story of Merlin would allow the Wizarding World franchise to capitalize both on its own popularity, while also dipping into the legends of King Arthur as well.

There have been a lot of failed attempts to bring those legends to screen over the years, but a version set within the world of Harry Potter could provide a new and exciting approach to the stories. Plus, the time period could potentially allow for the inclusion of Hogwarts’ founders, as they could still have been alive and teaching during Merlin’s lifetime.

6 Young Tom Riddle

A prequel series or movie about Tom Riddle, or Voldemort, could make for an interesting new approach to the Wizarding World as well. We’ve already learned a fair amount about Riddle’s time at Hogwarts through various flashbacks and supplementary materials, but a full story centered on him could provide a lot more clarity to his story. Plus, the familiarity of the character would make the story more intriguing to general audiences as well.

The story could showcase how exactly Riddle was driven to evil, and what happened in his life that set him on that course. Though the Fantastic Beasts movies weren’t massive successes, Jude Law’s Dumbledore was a big hit, so Law could also return to that role in a movie about Riddle.

5 Hogwarts Legacy

If WBD really wants to capitalize on the popularity of established stories, they could move forward with an adaptation of the new Hogwarts Legacy video game. The game was just released a few months ago, and it has already proven to be a massive success. Fans of the Harry Potter franchise are loving this new opportunity to revisit the world. The new characters are compelling, and the story of the game has a surprising amount of depth to it. The game already has found a wide audience, and a big screen translation would certainly be starting with a step-up.

4 Another Hogwarts Class

With the right creative voices on board, pretty much any story set in Hogwarts could work. People love the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and any chance to revisit it is going to drum up a lot of attention. A new Wizarding World story could take the same approach as Hogwarts Legacy and just follow an entirely different set of students at Hogwarts at a different point in time.

They don’t need to be connected to the core story. As long as the characters are interesting and there’s a genuine story to tell with them, fans will be interested. Hogwarts has a long history with so much storytelling potential within its walls. The possibilities are quite literally endless.

3 Other Wizarding Schools

Taking a similar approach to that, it could be exciting to explore an entirely different wizarding school altogether. There are eight known schools within the Wizarding World franchise, and each one provides its own unique benefits from a storytelling perspective. Beyond Hogwarts, there’s Beauxbatons in France, Ilvermorny in the United States, Mahoutokoro in Japan and Uagadou in Africa, among others.

Telling a story about a class at any of these other schools would allow for a more in-depth examination of the Wizarding World and the different cultures that exist within it. Perhaps an event similar to the Triwizard Tournament could bring multiple schools together for a year, allowing for multiple schools to be given the spotlight in a film with an international cast.

2 A Quidditch Story

Quidditch is one of the most recognizable aspects of the Harry Potter series. Fans around the world love Quidditch and organize their own tournaments to play the game with one another. As a more outside-the-norm choice for a Wizarding World film, a story centered around Quidditch could make for a unique approach to the franchise.

Sports-related films are a cornerstone of the movie-making industry, and bringing the fantasy of Harry Potter into that kind of story would be an entertaining way to revisit the world. A film like this could be anything really, from the creation of the sport itself to a simple story of a school’s Quidditch team working its way to success.

1 Literally Anything That's New

Most of all, really all we’re asking for in a new Harry Potter film or series is…exactly that, something new. Any kind of new story within the Wizarding World franchise would be more exciting than another retelling of a story we’ve already seen. The Harry Potter movies are already beloved and faithful adaptations of the books, by retracing that story again in a streaming series the world of the franchise is just shrinking more closely around that original story.

The Wizarding World is one of the most widespread and detailed worlds of modern fantasy storytelling. There’s simply too much potential within it to justify rebooting the franchise instead of expanding upon it.