The “Harry Potter” TV series released a teaser trailer much earlier than fans were expecting. Along with the trailer drop, the series has set a release date for Christmas 2026. With many fans not expecting the series to come out until 2027 at the earliest, here is everything you need to know about the new series and the trailer.
Who’s making the series?
Rumors of a “Harry Potter” TV series started circulating in January 2021 when “The Hollywood Reporter” revealed that the series was in early development at HBO and Warner Bros. This rumor was denied at the time, but by April 2023, Warner Bros. announced the series was officially in development.
The first creatives announced for the series were showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod. Gardiner was a writer and consulting producer on “Succession”. One of the most successful shows that HBO has ever produced. As for Mylod, he is becoming a trusted director by HBO and Warner Bros., directing 16 episodes of “Succession”, a crucial episode of “The Last of Us” titled “Through the Valley”, and now they are trusting him to direct an unknown number of episodes for this “Harry Potter” series. To add to his resume, he has won an Emmy and a DGA award for “Succession.”
The announcement of these two as some of the main creative forces behind the series is promising and shows the commitment that Warner Bros. is willing to give the series. J.K. Rowling will serve as an executive producer on the film, as will David Heyman, who produced the “Harry Potter” films.
Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout will be portraying the series main trio, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, respectively. The cast also includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedue as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.
Trailer breakdown
The trailer starts with a series of shots from the Dursleys’ house and of Harry at school in Little Whinging before he makes his way to Hogwarts. This is all accompanied by a voiceover from Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Harry’s jealous and hateful aunt. These first shots of the trailer show how different it is going to be from the film. The fact that HBO is showing Harry at his school in Little Whinging implies that we are going to see a lot more of Harry’s life before he goes to Hogwarts. The series allows there to be more time spent exploring Harry’s life before Hagrid whisks him away to Hogwarts.
The first look at Petunia is also vastly different from the films. She is blonde instead of brunette, indicating some authenticity to the books, as Petunia is described as having blonde hair in the books. Petunia is spiteful in the early parts of the trailer, telling Harry that he is “nothing special”. This is really Petunia projecting her resentment for her sister Lily, Harry’s mom, for being a witch when she was not. The quiet emotional cruelty of Petunia here is in contrast with the films that showed more of the physical abuse from Vernon, Harry’s uncle.
We then get our first look at Hagrid towering over Harry as they ride the tube in London. In the same sequence, there is a close-up of Harry’s eyes. If you know anything about the story, Harry’s eyes become a crucial detail that reveals certain characters’ motivations. This shows up early, setting the stage for a big reveal later in the series.
Getting to Hogwarts
The trailer continues with shots of Harry in King’s Cross Station, him running somewhere pushing his cart to get to platform 9 ¾, and a shot of Harry watching Ron hugging Molly through the train window, establishing the jealousy that Harry has towards Ron throughout the series, as he’s never had the familial love that Ron has.
We then get a reverse shot of Harry still watching Ron and Molly. However, this shot serves another purpose. In the reflection of the train window, we see Ginny Weasley watching her mother send Ron off. Positioning the shot like this, with Harry turned toward Ginny and vice versa, foreshadows the eventual relationship that Harry will have with Ginny. Ginny won’t become a main part of the story until the events of season 2, though.
The rest of the trailer spends time exploring Hogwarts. Revealing the impressive scale that the show’s production aimed for. Once again showing the commitment that HBO and Warner Bros. are giving to this production. The first-year walks through Hogwarts towards Professor McGonagall, with high ceilings and staircases leading in all directions. In the films, the staircases moved all around and at random times. The series may choose to go a different route, as that detail is not in the books.
Ending of trailer
Hermione Granger is finally shown in the trailer alongside Harry and Ron as they walk through a room in Hogwarts that could be the Gryffindor common room, but there are some blue flags in the background, so it may be some other area of Hogwarts. We then see Draco Malfoy flashing his wand at Harry and the others. Draco’s wand will become significant later. When wand succession is introduced in the series, pay attention to how Draco uses his wand and who takes it.
The next series of shots introduces Quidditch. The wizarding sport of Quidditch is an area that the show could really expand on compared to the films. Understandably, the films had to leave out a lot of the Quidditch scenes from the books. The series should have time to give justice to those scenes from the book. This could also mean an earlier entrance for Cedric Diggory, who does appear in the “Prisoner of Azkaban” in the books but doesn’t appear until the “Goblet of Fire” in the films.
The trailer continues with our first look at Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore. Before ending with a sweet exchange between the main trio. Showing their childhood innocence before their journey begins.
Controversy
Perhaps the biggest controversy that has come from this series so far has been the casting of Paapa Esseidu as Severus Snape. This announcement created a lot of discourse online about whether he should be playing the role. He is a wonderful actor who got his breakthrough in the limited series “I May Destroy You”. I encourage people who are skeptical to go watch the series because he will do a wonderful job playing Snape.
There will be some areas from the books that may require more attention when adapting because of this casting, though. Harry’s father, James, bullied Snape when they were at Hogwarts. If HBO casts James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin all as white actors, that may imply that James and the rest of the Marauders are bullying him because of his race. Harry finding out his dad was a bully is important character development for him. This storyline needs to be in the series. It’s also important for Harry and Snape’s relationship. It will be interesting to see how the creative team adapts this portion of the story.
Also, throughout the first three books, Harry and Ron assume that Snape is the reason all these bad things are happening at Hogwarts. I’m not sure how that is going to look either. Only time will tell how HBO wants to handle this subject matter and if race is going to be something they want to address with this series.
Alan Rickman’s performance and interpretation of Severus Snape are iconic. It’s some fans’ favorite part about the films. I think HBO wants to go in a completely different direction with Snape because of this. This casting implies that they didn’t want the audience to be constantly comparing the Snape in the series to the Snape in the films. They want the audience to go in knowing they are going to be different. It’s important that we, as the audience, trust in the filmmaker’s vision because there is a reason that they cast Snape as a black actor, even if it’s not apparent yet.
What the show needs to get right
There are a few things from the books that the films didn’t adapt well. With the longer run time each season will have, they could correct some of the things that the films didn’t put an emphasis on.
They must get the relationships between the main trio right. The films sparked a lot of discussion as to why Hermione and Ron end the series together. I think this has a lot to do with how Harry and Hermione’s relationship was written in the films. The films often elevate their closeness compared to the books, where their relationship is portrayed much more as if they were siblings. The films also left out the entire subplot about S.P.E.W. This storyline is what prompted Hermione to kiss Ron in the first place. Ron’s eventual advocacy for S.P.E.W shows his commitment and true feelings for Hermione in a way that the films didn’t capture.
Something else that contributes to this confusion is how Ginny is cast aside for most of the films. Ginny in the books is much more confident and witty than in the films. She is timid in the second book, but after Harry rescues her, she lightens up quite a lot. She starts making witty quips at Harry’s expense for the rest of the series. Even Harry and Ginny’s first kiss in the films is quiet and timid, while in the books it happens publicly and is something that both characters had been thinking about for days. Ginny is also a wonderful Quidditch player that the films don’t really mention. If they can keep Ginny full of confidence and wit, the series will be better off for it.
Quidditch must be incorporated more into the story. The Quidditch matches often give insight into what is happening in the story. The films had to cut out a lot of the Quidditch scenes, but if they could have 2 or 3 Quidditch matches every season when applicable, that could hook audiences and show what is to come the rest of the season.
Future of the series
The head of HBO recently said this series would likely not be an annual release because of the scale and production values they are investing in it. However, this is a dangerous game to play when child actors are involved.
Something the films did well was keeping up with the actor’s age. Harry, Hermione, and Ron don’t look like they are 30 in “The Deathly Hallows”. If the series isn’t careful, it could find itself facing the same problem that “Stranger Things” did. They just need to keep the series relevant so the audience cares about the story.
There’s still a long wait until the series comes out. Principal photography has just finished and is entering the post-production process, where they will have to do all the special-effects shots, which, as a fantasy show, are incredibly important in making the series feel real. It’s unseen how this series will stack up to the films and books. We likely won’t know fully until the series finale. An episode that may not come out for a decade.
