In November, the Harry Potter series will get its first spinoff film in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which will imagine what the wizarding world looked like in the United States back in the 1920s. Though the movie will be written by J.K. Rowling herself and directed by David Yates (who also directed the last four Harry Potter films), some fans have become skeptical. A new behind-the-scenes featurette allays some of those fears, as the cast and crew behind the movie give a clearer picture of what to expect, with a focus on the new characters.
While the movie’s first teaser made the plot, about finding and capturing a variety of magical beasts that “magizoologist” Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) accidentally unleashes, sound threateningly close to Jumanji with wands—or, to make a more current comparison, the Jack Black–starring Goosebumps—the new featurette promises more of the human drama around which the classic Harry Potter franchise always found its center. Still, it might take a while for fans to get used to the American word for those without magic: no-maj. To some of us, they’ll always be muggles.
