HBO has revealed to us some new names joining the upcoming “Harry Potter” series that is acting as a franchise reset, allowing for recasting the large swath of Potterverse characters in this new show focusing on the magical Wizarding School of Hogwarts and the Boy Who Lived.
The new casting additions to the this television iteration of the “Harry Potter” franchise include Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy, Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil, Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown, and Bertie Carvel as Cornelius Fudge.
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Previously announced, the rest of the “Potter” cast features newcomers such as Dominic McLaughlin in the role of Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Playing adult roles are John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid
Francesca Gardiner is showrunning “Harry Potter” with Mark Mylod directing multiple episodes.
Each season of the series is expected to adapt a single book, which means there are likely plans to make seven seasons. However, it remains to be seen if audiences will stick with the show for that long or if HBO decides to stretch things out further (Warner Bros. split “The Deathly Hallows” into two feature films previously).
It is Pride Month, and we think it would be doing a disservice not to mention that there has been speculation that the series reboot may exist as a way to avoid future headaches from franchise actors speaking up against J.K. Rowling‘s (an executive producer on the series) vile anti-trans stances on social media and amped things up by putting her extreme wealth into political actions (naming her anti-trans orgainzation after herself as “J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund“) in the hopes to make the lives of trans youth/adults miserable and potentially putting them at greater risk of violence, abuse, and further discrimination in the United Kingdom.
With that said, Essiedu publicly signed a pro-trans open letter to protect the trans community from bigotry in the United Kingdom, and Frost recently echoed a rebuke of Rowling’s anti-trans obsession to The Observer, “She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine, they just don’t align in any way, shape or form.”
Neither Warner Bros. Discovery nor HBO has commented on Rowling funding this new anti-trans organization, and they haven’t given the trans community, many of whom are “Potter” fans themselves, the impression that the studio doesn’t share the same sentiments as their executive producer. Some see the company’s silence as complicity with Rowling’s growing bigotry.
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“Harry Potter” will be airing on both traditional cable via HBO and streaming on HBO Max.