The Harry Potter spin off fans actually wanted has reportedly been cancelled - Mischief Mismanaged

[Dumbledore]

A Harry Potter spin off about the Marauders was reportedly in development at Warner Bros, and apparently it got surprisingly far before being scrapped.

For anyone who has forgotten the details, the Marauders were James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew during their Hogwarts years in the 1970s.

 

 

And honestly, this is probably one of the most obvious stories they could have explored. We know the broad outline. We know they were best friends. We know they created the Marauder’s Map. We know they became unregistered Animagi so they could spend time with Lupin when he transformed into a werewolf.

 

We also know things eventually went very, very wrong.

James and Sirius fell out with Snape. Pettigrew eventually betrayed the Potters. Sirius was sent to Azkaban for something he didn't do. Lupin lost almost everyone he cared about. There is loads of story there. According to reports from Knight Edge Media, the proposed series had already reached the writing stage, with three episodes reportedly completed and casting apparently approaching. The project would have been set in the 1970s and explored the

 

Marauders' time at Hogwarts, the First Wizarding War and their involvement with the Order of the Phoenix.

The important bit, though, is that Warner Bros has not officially confirmed the cancellation. So for now, I'd treat this as a report rather than gospel.

 

Still… it's hard not to wonder what might have been. Especially because Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban gave us only a tiny glimpse of the Marauders' story. We were basically told, “These four were best mates, they made a map, one of them was a traitor, enjoy figuring out the rest.”

Cheers, Rowling.

 

 

A full series could have shown them as teenagers before everything went wrong. We could have actually watched James and Sirius being absolute nightmares at school, seen Lupin trying to keep them under control, and watched Peter slowly become more important to the group. And then there's Snape. Their rivalry is a huge part of Harry's understanding of his father, but the films barely scratched the surface of it.

Apparently the decision to scrap the spin off is connected to the focus on the new main Harry Potter series, although that part remains speculation rather than something officially confirmed.

 

Which brings me to the question…

Would you actually have watched a Marauders series?