As the internet brings up the ridiculous debate, there is little doubt about Lord of the Rings reigning over Harry Potter.

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy remains one of Hollywood’s modern classics, earning widespread critical and commercial acclaim. The trilogy is beloved by fans of Tolkien’s works, starring a slew of great acting talent such as Sean Astin, Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, and Sir Christopher Lee, among others.
Sir Ian McKellen with Elijah Wood in Lord of the Rings [Credit: New Line Cinema/Allstar]
Having won 17 Academy Awards on the back of just three films, there is little dispute when it comes to Lord of the Rings being declared as one of the best fantasy adaptations of all time. However, there seem to be some who think the award is better suited for Harry Potter, which is apparently, according to some on the internet, leagues better than what Lord of the Rings has to offer to its viewers.

There are some who believe Harry Potter is objectively better than Lord of the Rings

Dumbledore’s Army in a still from the Harry Potter films | Credit: Warner Bros.
While there is little doubt about the fact that Lord of the Rings far surpasses Harry Potter as an IP, whether it be in book or film form, there are some who believe that the opposite would be a more accurate assessment of both franchises.

The claim essentially rests on the fact that Harry Potter is a much more diverse story, in the sense that it narratively touches on more story points and character development than Lord of Rings, which fans have pointed out to be completely false, and rightly so.

While there are some things that Harry Potter does slightly better than Lord of Rings, the genre as a whole owes a lot more to J.R.R. Tolkien than it does to J.K. Rowling. Lord of the Rings, despite having less than the amount of movies that Harry Potter does, has still managed to take home more critical acclaim. Lord of the Rings also holds the distinction of revolutionizing the fantasy genre while Harry Potter is simply not as iconic as Tolkien’s Legendarium.

While the Wizarding World remains in limbo, damage to the works of Tolkien continues

The Orc family in The Rings of Power Season 2 | Credits: Amazon Prime
The Wizarding World at large and Lord of the Rings have entertained fans for a long time, but while the Wizarding World’s future is in limbo, Tolkien’s Legendarium is actively going through non-canon-typical retcons.

The fresh controversy of Orcs having families and a moral compass that is not geared toward war has gotten a lot of fans wondering if the writers of the show even want to work with the source material that has been given to them.

George R.R. Martin recently commented on the tendencies of large studios to corrupt works of fiction in an effort to make it their own. This seems to be becoming the case more and more as fans have to deal with bastardized material that is given to them in the name of being ‘inclusive’.