Watch Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them San Diego Comic-Con trailer

With lesser Potter works seemingly growing on trees of late (plays, illustrated editions of the existing books, Daniel Radcliffe as some kind of magic zombie with a boner) we were due for something more serious from a franchise worth the kind of money that Malfoys would have stored in the Gringott’s vault, and sure enough, we’re getting it. Warner Brothers debuted a full trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at the San Diego Comic-Con and boy oh boy does it look everything you’d hoped for.

Actually, it may not. Despite the fact that screenwriting duties were completed by Harry Potter mother supreme and author, J.K. Rowling, along with the film’s director David Yates, and a screenwriter who contributed to 7 of the 8 original Potter films, the trailer provides little that relates to what audiences will already be familiar with. To my novice eye, it looks more like the promo for the lost season of Boardwalk Empire what with the mobsters, speakeasies, and platoons of men with guns in historic America.

We knew it was a standalone story, one that takes place 70 years before the true Potter Saga begins, but I thought wizards kept a low profile in muggle society, not lead them in battle? Perhaps that’s the problem with sourcing companion material to a great story, and companion material written primarily to raise money for charity, at that: it doesn’t lead to great storytelling, in spite of the author’s involvement. Oh boy, I saw a house elf, this is a Potter movie! No, no, wait, there’s Colin Farrell. Definitely another season of Boardwalk Empire!

The good news: this will be a trilogy of films, not just a standalone. The bad news: this will be a trilogy of films, not just a standalone. I hope I’m wrong, and we’re not looking at the next attempt at the Godfather.

What do you think? Did Rowling get hit with one too many memory charms, or will the film put it off?