11 Harry Potter spin-off series we want to see (or not)

4. Tom Marvolo Riddle at Hogwarts

Marketing-wise, this is a winning pic. Audiences love a doomed character, and everyone watching a potential spinoff about Tom Riddle’s youth would know that he will one day become the most powerful dark wizard in history.

In this prequel, we would follow Tom around from the first time he set foot in Hogwarts as a (kind of) innocent boy to a semi-adult with murderous tendencies and genocidal plans. Villains aren’t my cup of tea, but I know many people feel differently. Look at how much people love semi-villains like Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape. The industry seemed to have picked this up, because there has been a trend in romanticizing villains lately. Just last year The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins jumped on the spin-off bandwagon when she wrote Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is all about the early life of villain Coriolanus Snow. Lionsgate is already working on a film adaptation of the book.

People like villains because they are often grey characters, and grey characters remind us of ourselves because they are flawed, unlike most heroes. I’m not saying Voldemort is a grey character — the guy was basically planning a genocide. But watching teenage Tom slowly turn into Voldemort could be gripping, especially for all those people who love villain narratives.

We only know select events about Tom’s life from before he became Voldemort, so there would be a lot to explore here.