As the summer of 2025 approaches, HBO's Harry Potter series gears up for production. The only actor officially cast as of now is John Lithgow as the Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Other than him, it is rumored that Paapa Essiedu will be the Potions Master Snape, Nick Frost is nearing the deal to play the gentle giant Rubeus Hagrid, and Janet McTeer will be Professor Minerva McGonagall in the series.
Apart from the one confirmed casting and three rumored castings, the main trio of Hermione, Harry, and Ron are yet to be confirmed. But there is one casting that HBO's Harry Potter series should stick to, if possible — that of the central antagonist, Tom Marvolo Riddle/Voldemort, who appeared in six of eight movies of the film franchise.
The Harry Potter movies changed Voldemort actors and look
While it made sense for Voldemort to be played by a younger actor in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, it doesn't make sense that the movies recast even the adult actors. The adult version of Voldemort in the movies was played by two different actors, and they even look different.
For instance, Voldemort was played by actor Richard Bremmer in the first movie of the franchise, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone. However, it isn't Bremmer's voice we hear in the movie, rather that of Quirinus Quirrell actor Ian Hart. The next one in the franchise featured a young Voldemort in the form of the dairy Horcrux played by actor Christian Coulson.
It is only two films later that we see Voldemort in his final form. However, this is where things get confusing, because while Voldemort had snake-like features in both the first and fourth movies, the look is different from the final look as portrayed by actor Ralph Fiennes.
Therefore, the upcoming Harry Potter series on HBO has a chance to rectify that error and decide on a look for the character beforehand. The showmakers even have their work cut out for them, as actor Cillian Murphy is a fan-favorite.
A while back, however, it was also rumored that Murphy might play Professor Quirrell in the first season of the show. Therefore, for now, nothing is certain as the casting process of the show is still underway.
How will the upcoming Harry Potter series separate itself from the movie franchise?
While the Harry Potter movies are beloved across the world, there are a lot of details from the books that have been cut out of the movies. However, the upcoming HBO series could adapt the books more faithfully.
Executive producer and director Mark Mylod, and showrunner Francesca Gardiner, in an interview published in December 2024 on the official Harry Potter blog, promised to delve deeper into the lore, explore unseen Hogwarts locations like the Hogwarts staffroom, and include characters like Peeves that were omitted from the films. The duo's exact words were:
"We’ll get to have some fun with Peeves in the corridors!"
Statements as these have fans hopeful that the show will be different enough from the eight movies before it.
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