HBO’s upcomingHarry PotterTV show has the exciting opportunity to fold in the events of the stage production that continues the events of JK Rowling’s source material, but it would make the most sense to do so by waiting for the adaptation’s fourth season. Although theCursed Childplay could still technically be made into a moviewith theoriginalHarry Pottercast, what’s perhaps more likely is that the eighth franchise story will be acknowledged by the TV show. However,HBO’s version has a huge advantageover theHarry Pottermovies.
Debuting in London in 2016,Harry Potter and the Cursed Childpicks up where the books end. The two-part play follows the original characters but primarily focuses on Harry’s youngest son - Albus Severus Potter. The play makes surprisingly heavy use of time travel for the first time sinceThe Prisoner of Azkaban. As a result, Albus and his fellow Slytherin housemate revisit a key event inHarry Pottercanon in an attempt to alter history. Ultimately, their plan is thwarted, but that doesn’t mean their exploits shouldn’t still be visible.
Harry Potter Season 4 Can Include Albus & Scorpius' Attempts To Prevent Cedric’s Death
The Cursed Child’s time travel story should cross over with The Goblet of Fire in HBO’s adaptation
For a variety of reasons, including generational guilt and the need to prove himself after being sorted in Slytherin, Albus Potter agrees to help Amos Diggory restore his son to the timeline. To do so, Albus joins forces with Draco Malfoy’s son, Scorpius, to thwart Cedric’s efforts at the Triwizard Tournament and have him ejected from the contest that’s shown inThe Goblet of Fire. BecauseThe Cursed Childhadn’t been written when the fourth movie was made, it would have been impossible to include Albus and Scorpius in those scenes. Now, HBO can correct this issue.
The show will adapt one book per season. Therefore,Harry Potterseason 4 should coverThe Goblet of Fire.
Harry Potter’s time travel rules are established in the third movieas being self-fulfilling. Essentially, everything that will happen is pretty much predetermined.The Cursed Childmakes extensive changesto the Time-Turner lore by allowing Albus and Scorpius to successfully alter the past and make it so that Cedric doesn’t make it to the final Triwizard task. Their alterations are ultimately undone, butAlbus and Scorpius are still able to hide in the crowd, disguised as Durmstrang students. So, they could be included as a subtle Easter Egg when theHarry PotterTV show adaptsThe Goblet of Fire.
Including A Cursed Child Easter Egg Would Make An Adaptation Even More Exciting
The Harry Potter play currently feels separate from the rest of JK Rowling’s saga
Officially,Harry Potter and the Cursed Childis part of the franchise’s main canon. However, the vastly different medium means it stands apart from the other stories and almost feels as though it’s a separate entity. Part of the reasoning for this is the play’s time travel story not quite marrying up with theHarry Potterbooks, or even the movies. By including Albus and Scorpius inHarry Potterseason 4, even in a minor way that’s hard to spot at first glance,The Cursed Childwould feel much more like a part of the same universe.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
1997
2001
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
1998
2002
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
1999
2004
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2000
2005
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2003
2007
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2009
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
2016
2016 (Stage production)
The Cursed Childcoming so long after the books ended doesn’t helpwith the story’s feeling of separation from its predecessors. In addition, it premiered the same year as 2016’sFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was marketed as a new era for the franchise. Releasing a prequel movie the same year as a sequel stage production is an easy way to muddy the waters of where to draw the franchise lines. So, includingCursed Childlore in the plans for the TV show adaptation partially corrects that error.
Why HBO’s Harry Potter TV Show May Ignore The Cursed Child Completely
The Cursed Child’s plot holes make it difficult to include in a live-action adaptation of the Harry Potter saga
There are several canonical inconsistencies between the play and the other seven stories. As such,manyHarry Potterfans don’t considerThe Cursed Childto be proper canon. Instead, it’s believed by some to be more of a standalone narrative or a speculative what-if scenario. While neither assumption is correct, it’s easy to see why it would be difficult for some to accept the play as unfolding within the mainHarry Potteruniverse. It could also be difficult to use facets of the play’s story without them clashing with the main arc from the books.
I Hope The Harry Potter TV Show Restores A Big Book Omission That Always Bothered Me
HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV show should adapt an iconic book sequence more faithfully than the movies did, as there’s long been something missing.
For example,Harry Potterseason 3 should cover the events ofThe Prisoner of Azkaban, which is the installment that introduces time travel to JK Rowling’s Wizarding World. If the show plans to pay homage toThe Cursed Child, season 3’s temporal laws would arguably need to be tweaked for consistency across the board. It would be a delicate endeavor for what could be nothing more than a sly wink. Then again, ifHarry Potterseason 8 turns out to beThe Cursed Child, the show would need to make the changes sooner rather than later.
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.
