How To Watch The Fantastic Beasts Movies In Order: By Release Date & Chronologically

As the Wizarding World franchise continues to grow, the complete Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies order becomes more complex. J.K. Rowling’s magical novels became one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises throughout the 2000s. Audiences watched eight movies centered around Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter that showed his ascension through Hogwarts and pivotal role in defeating Voldemort. The eight Harry Potter films were followed by a prequel series, Fantastic Beasts, and is now going to be expanded further by a reboot TV series.

The Fantastic Beasts movies kicked off in 2016 with Eddie Redmayne’s magizoologist Newt Scamander taking the lead role. The prequel series was originally rather disconnected from the main Harry Potter movies, but that changed dramatically with its sequels, as Grindelwald gained a bigger role, a young Albus Dumbledore appeared, and more connective tissue formed. The series was originally intended to be five movies long, but following actor controversy and a poor box office performance, the third film is the final installment in the series.

Fantastic Beasts Movies In Release Order

From Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them To The Secrets Of Dumbledore

Putting the Fantastic Beasts movies in order based on the franchise’s release dates is extremely straightforward. The prequel franchise began in 2016, five years after the end of the original Harry Potter series. For those wanting a complete viewing of the franchise in terms of release dates, the Fantastic Beasts movies order is as follows:

If fans want to watch the movies in timeline order instead, there isn’t a huge difference in the watch order, but the employment of flashbacks throughout the movies means that the timeline can get a little confusing.

Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts Movies In Chronological Order

All Of The Prequel Trilogy Comes Before The Events Of Harry Potter

Whereas Harry Potter’s coming-of-age story was told throughout the 1990s, the Fantastic Beasts films take place 50-65 years prior, in the 1920s and 30s. The original movie centered on Newt Scamander is set in 1927, 65 years before the first Harry Potter, but sequels move the prequels closer to these events. For those seeking a Harry Potter timeline viewing order without the need of a crystal ball, here’s how to watch the Fantastic Beasts movies in order.

1926: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

The first in the series starts in 1926, with Newt Scamander’s arrival in New York. The young magizoologist brings with him a case filled with magical creatures, and through a series of misadventures, the creatures are accidentally released around the city, leaving Newt to wrangle them with the help of muggle (or no-maj) Jacob Kowalski, Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein, a demoted Auror, and her sister, Queenie.

The movie introduces the Magical Congress of the United States, and the infamous Gellert Grindelwald, as well as the New Salem Philanthropic Society, a group of anti-magic humans who believe that witches are real, and dangerous. Her adopted son, Credence, is also introduced as an Obscurial – a dangerous child whose repressed magic has made him intensely powerful.

The first movie of the trilogy doesn’t employ as many flashbacks to earlier events as the next movies do, so watching it is very straightforward.

1927: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Set shortly after the first film, The Crimes Of Grindelwald picks up with the escape of Grindelwald, and the original crew reuniting in a search for Credence, who has fled to Paris. While the original film shows the magical world of the United States in the 20s, this second installment moves to Europe, with most of the action taking place in France (and the introduction of the French Ministry of Magic), as well as a few scenes in Hogwarts.

The action also focuses more on the lore that Harry Potter fans are familiar with, as Grindelwald starts to build his following, based on the idea that witches and wizards should not be forced to hide to protect those without magic.

The second movie in the Fantastic Beasts trilogy, however, features a handful of flashbacks to the youth of several of the principal characters. While the story of the movie itself takes place in 1927, the flashbacks primarily take place in the early 1910s, giving a more complete picture of the history between some of the characters.

1932: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

The third and final film in the series starts after a time jump of ten years – bringing it into the 30s, and a few years before the Second World War begins. This larger time jump allows for the third film to allow for greater growth of the characters between movies, and makes sense for the original plan of five films, leading up to the events of WW2.

The film also changes location again, with some scenes in the UK and China, while the bulk of the action takes place in Germany and Bhutan. Newt and his friends work together once again, alongside Dumbledore, in order to try and thwart Grindelwald’s devious plans to become the new Supreme Leader of the International Confederation of Wizards.

This movie, however, is where the timeline of events might get a little confusing on the first watch-through. That’s because Grindelwald kills a magical beast and uses its own innate magical ability to see into the future. He plans to give himself an edge in his quest to rule the wizarding world and eliminate muggles. That means sometimes he sees events moments before they happen, and other times, days before they happen, before the action goes backwards again.

Grindelwald is able to use his newfound ability to stay one step ahead of Newt and his old friend Albus Dumbledore for much of the movie, but not for

all of it.

The Harry Potter Movies In Order

Following the three Fantastic Beasts movies, fans can then watch the eight Harry Potter movies in both release and timeline order to complete their viewing experience:

The events of the movies take place between 1991 and 1998, with each story mostly set during the events of the title character’s school year. The final two movies take place from 1997 to 1998. A flash-forward at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 takes place nearly two decades later, in 2017, as Harry’s own child attends Hogwarts.

Why The Final Two Fantastic Beasts Will Not Be Made

The Harry Potter Prequel Wasn’t The Success Story WB Hoped For

When the Fantastic Beasts franchise was announced, Rowling said that it was intended to be five movies long – and that this would lead up to the famous duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, which is a huge moment in Wizarding World lore. In the Harry Potter series, this duel takes place in 1945, with obvious parallels between Grindelwald’s rise and the Second World War.

The plots of the first three films were clearly building toward this duel, as well – the first introduces the core characters, and the second and third focus on Grindelwald’s rise, the instability of the magical community, and the debates over its secrecy, and the breaking of a blood pact between Dumbledore and Grindelwald that would allow the duel to eventually happen. Presumably, the final two films were intended to cover more of the story, and would end with the duel in the fifth film, after which Dumbledore becomes Hogwarts Headmaster, and Grindelwald is sentenced to life in prison.

However, fans will not see this duel on the big screen any time soon, as there is nothing in development at Warner Brothers for a Fantastic Beasts 4, despite the original plans. The cancelation of the series has neven been officially announced, but it appears to be dead in the water, due largely to a poor box office return.

Although the first film was relatively well-received, and earned a respectable $814 million, the second dropped to just over $650 million, and the third brought in just over $400 million – making it the lowest-earning of all the Wizarding World movies.

Quite simply, this trend is not one that Warner Bros would want to spend more money on – especially as the reviews match the box office, getting progressively worse with each film. In addition, controversy around the casting of Johnny Depp, and around Rowling’s continued anti-trans sentiments, have led to the franchise struggling to find the kind of devoted audience that the original Harry Potter films did.

How Much Harry Potter Knowledge Do You Need To Watch Fantastic Beasts?

Potter Knowledge Is Necessary, But It Helps

A thorough knowledge of Harry Potter isn’t a requirement for following or enjoying the Fantastic Beasts movies. The prequels do a pretty good job at establishing the base understanding of the Wizarding World that newcomers will need. What’s more, since it takes place decades before the events of Harry Potter, the story of Newt Scamander is relatively self-contained. Voldemort isn’t present, for example, and all the significant pre-Sorcerer’s Stone events like the First Great Wizarding War and the founding of the Order of the Phoenix, take place after the Fantastic Beasts trilogy.

However, while knowing Harry Potter isn’t a requirement for enjoying Fantastic Beasts, it definitely helps. For example, the appearance of characters like Dumbledore is much more significant for Harry Potter fans who know his significance in the timeline. He’s still an important character in Fantastic Beasts, and the prequel trilogy doesn’t require viewers to know he’s the future headmaster of Hogwarts, but his presence is much more satisfying for those who know his eventual destiny.

What’s more, there are several thematic elements that will simply go over the heads of viewers who haven’t seen or read any Harry Potter stories. The strongest example of this is in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them when Newt first arrived in America. There are many comparisons made to show just how different Wizarding culture is in the United States compared to the UK. These are incredibly interesting for Harry Potter fans who had previously only seen the world of magic through the lens of Great Britain, but for newcomers they simply come across as borderline-clunky world-building exposition.

Where To Watch The Fantastic Beasts Movies

Max Is The Streaming Home Of All Things Potter

Whether the franchise returns for the final two installments or not, fans will next be looking for where they can watch the existing three films, and there are a few places to do just that. All three of the Fantastic Beasts films are available to stream on Max. While many movies move between streaming services as licensing changes, Max will surely keep the franchise, especially with the Harry Potter show on the horizon.

However, if for some reason Warner Bros. removes one of its biggest franchises from Max, there are always on-demand options for the movies with each of the Fantastic Beasts movies available to rent on platforms like Apple TV.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students’ time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.

Character(s)

Harry Potter , Hermione Granger , Ron Weasley , Dumbledore , Minerva McGonagall , Rubeus Hagrid , Dobby the House Elf , Draco Malfoy , Sirius Black , Ginny Weasley , Voldemort