“Artemis Fowl” is coming to Disney Plus on Friday, though it hasn’t been a smooth ride getting there. Not only was it bumped from its theatrical release in May, sending it straight to the streaming service, but the movie also faced years of delays before that.
But despite the delay, star Josh Gad is upbeat about the new movie, even comparing it to another wildly popular young adult franchise based on a book series in a newly released interview with Collider.
“I’m obsessed with Harry Potter,” Gad, who plays the role of the dwarf Mulch Diggins in “Artemis Fowl,” told Collider. “There hasn’t been a Harry Potter in a long time. A new Harry Potter. This feels like the answer to that.”
“Artemis Fowl” is based on the book series by Eoin Colfer and (like “Harry Potter”) follows a young boy’s journey into a magical world. But Gad acknowledged that there are also differences between the two series, noting that the character of Artemis (played by Ferdia Shaw in the film) is more of an anti-hero.
“In many ways, I think Artemis is almost the antithesis to Harry,” said Gad, according to Collider.
Gad expanded on his thoughts in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, explaining, “Rather than a Potter-like character whose entire journey is about learning, Artemis’ entire journey is about coming into himself. This is a journey about a kid who is already very mature and makes a lot of mature decisions for better or for worse.”
When the first full-length trailer for “Artemis Fowl” was released in March, some fans of the book series were concerned that it seemed to portray Artemis as more of a hero rather than the villain and criminal mastermind that he is in the books, the Deseret News reported at the time.
But Gad referred to Artemis as an “anti-hero” in his interview with Collider, saying “that’s what’s so unique about this world.”
“It’s really fun,” Gad told Collider. “And I think that again, it speaks to a crowd and an audience that is desperately longing for something to fill that [Harry Potter] void.”