Aya Radwan
In 2011, we bid farewell to our favourite sorcerers, witches and wizards; we bid Hogwarts goodbye. We grew up with timeless Harry Potter books and film adaptations. During this time, both the books and the films have lured fans from around the world into the magical world of Hogwarts. Since then, dedicated fan sites, video games, and theme parks have been created around the globe to satisfy the never-ending thirst for more of the wizarding world.
Have you heard the rumour that’s been going around for some time now? The one that created a rift between Potterheads, some of them rejoiced at the rumour, while others refused to even discuss it. Rumour has it that this year, twelve years after the last Harry Potter film, a new adaptation is in the making, but as a TV series.
A bit of a shock; we understand! However, let’s get down to the facts before making any conclusions. Let’s talk about the reboot, what we can expect from it, and who will get to recreate our favourite characters.
Are the Rumours True? Is a Harry Potter Series in the making?
Yes!
Initially, Warner Bros explored the idea of a remake of the Harry Potter series, and HBO MAX jumped on board, especially with WB’s focus on maintaining the current Harry Potter franchises around the world up and running. The Harry Potter series is expected to stretch over seven seasons, mirroring the series’ seven books, with each season focusing on one book.
Warner Bros has been in talks over the past several years with the Harry Potter author, J.K Rowling, to have her on board with them as a producer with Warner Bros Television for HBO MAX. In the event that Rowling agrees to produce the reboot, seeing as she’s the sole royalty owner of her creative works, this will give the producers the green light to start looking for a screenwriter. That’s right; Rowling will merely be making sure the series will stay true to the events in the books.
This wouldn’t be the newest return to the wizarding world, as the original cast returned to celebrate Harry Potter’s 20th-anniversary reunion, created by Warner Bros back in January 2022. The TV special brought tales and memories from the cast, where they shared their time on set, on and off the screen and their time throughout the films.
Why create a Harry Potter Series?
A new Harry Potter adaptation, especially on TV, raises questions. Why recreate one of history’s most successful books and films? It might be surprising to know that talks about bringing back the wizarding world are not new, and they aren’t even relevant to the new series. In fact, years ago, Warner Bros approached the famous trio, Daniel, Emma and Rupert, for a possible ninth film in the Harry Potter franchise.
However, while Rupert expressed a reluctant agreement to return to playing Ron Wesley, his co-stars Danial and Emma refused to return as Harry and Hermione. Daniel, for instance, shared his feelings that it was too early to return as Harry, as it had been only 10 years since the last film. He also stated that other successful franchises, such as Star Wars, gave the cast about 30 years before thinking about a return.
We dug deeper into the reason why our favourite trio weren’t as excited as we expected to return to the wizarding world. We discovered that they had to live a great part of their childhood and adolescence under the spotlight, and this exposed life caused them several traumatic experiences and left deep scars.
So, we understand and sincerely wish them all the best.
What can we expect from the new Harry Potter Series?
While this news rustled a few leaves, well, a lot of them, we want to see the best of it. We believe it will be a great opportunity to see many events from the books that didn’t make it to the film adaptations featured in the Harry Potter series. Everyone who read the books and then watched the films know that many parts didn’t make it to the screen, something that sparked some controversy back when the films were still in the making.
HBO has produced flawless shows, the latest of which is The House of Dragon, which garnered worldwide recognition and favourable reviews. However, this new Harry Potter series is not a prequel or a new story. It’s more of a retelling of Harry Potter’s story. We believe HBO, the entire series’ cast, and the actors have got their work cut out for them. The Warner Brothers’ original Harry Potter films are a tough act to follow.
How soon will season one of the Harry Potter series come to the screen?
With the source material available, aka the Harry Potter books, writing a script shouldn’t take long. Perhaps the only two points that need handling are finding the best scriptwriter, and we can’t forget about the events that didn’t make it to the films. So, we anticipate that we can get a premier by late 2024.
Who will recreate our favourite Harry Potter characters?
Admittedly, the actors expected to get to play the epic characters of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and all the Harry Potter characters have a tough job ahead of them. When Daniel Radcliffe got to play Harry, there was no going back; you could not imagine anyone else playing the part. This doesn’t go for Daniel/Harry only, but for all of the films’ characters, even the ones we hated and continuously wished for their misfortune.
Since our beloved actors have obviously aged out of their characters, and we’ve lost Alan Rickman, Professor Snape, and Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, the hunt for a new cast will be a wild chase. Unfortunately, since the Harry Potter series’ idea is still in development, there isn’t formal casting. But Potterheads around the world have been working for years on a remake of their own, and they’ve selected several main characters from the cast. In fact, we believe HBO will need to take these suggestions into consideration so as not to disappoint the millions worldwide who selected them.
So, who did Potterheads cast in a Harry Potter retelling?
HBO, this is a little cheat sheet for you!
Tom Felton to play Lucius Malfoy
How fitting! Well, some Potterheads preferred to refrain from recasting original Harry Potter actors in new roles so as not to mess up the actor’s original or new roles. This led some fans to pick Matt Smith, who not only wears long blonde hair well but can mirror Lucius’ quirky and unexpected character. They based their choice upon Smith’s portrayal of Daemon Targaryen in the prequel spin-off of Game of Thrones, The House of Dragon.
Olivia Colman to play Minerva McGonagall
Undoubtedly, Dame Maggie Smith’s performance as the beloved Transfiguration professor is unmatched. However, if we go back to the books, we’ll find that Minerva in the books was years younger than her film counterpart. Since the Harry Potter series is expected to bring us all the missing details from the books, Olivia Colman ideally fits Minerva from the books.
Ben Barnes to play Sirius Black
You can’t deny the similarities between Barnes and Gary Oldman; they both have the same perceptive look. To explain their choice further, you need to see Barnes in the Shadow and Bone series, where he played The Darkling or General Aleksander Kirigan.
Andrew Garfield to play Remus Lupin
Again, we see the similarities between Garfield and David Thewlis, the original Professor Lupin. Garfield himself is aware of this choice, which he commented on during a fun interview, and he expressed his interest in the role.
Adam Driver to play Severus Snape
This is a perfect casting; Driver’s acting method greatly resembles the late Alan Rickman’s. As difficult as it might seem, Driver somehow radiates the same bitterness and broodiness that we saw from Professor Snape throughout the films.
Jude Law to reprise his role as Albus Dumbledore
Since he so perfectly plays it in the famous spin-off, Fantastic Beasts, why not recast him! However, some Potterheads contested this choice and picked Brian Cox to play Dumbledore. They believed that Law wasn’t old enough for the role, even if he excelled at playing a much younger Albus, the Albus in the Harry Potter books had lengths of experience and grey hair, which Cox fit into impeccably.
Tom Hiddleston or Benedict Cumberbatch to play Lord Voldemort
Even though the scales dipped in favour of Cumberbatch, many Potterheads continue to rally for Hiddleston to portray He Who Must Not be Named, especially after seeing how Hiddleston portrayed Loki in the Marvel franchise.
Nick Frost to play Rubeus Hagrid
Fans chose Frost because of the warmth, big heart and slight clumsiness between him and Hagrid, which also resembles the late Robbie Coltrane’s style. On another note, Potterheads declared that if Harry Potter didn’t have to stay British, the clear choice for Hagrid would be Jack Black, and we completely agree.
Tom Hardy to play Mad-Eye Moody
Alastor Moody didn’t get full coverage through the Harry Potter films. We met him in The Goblet of Fire, and he appeared from time to time in the following films. However, the Harry Potter books fully introduced Moody and gave him a great opportunity for his character to develop. Hardy, one of the most successful actors of the decade, sounded perfect for the role—just watch Mad Max or Venom, and you’ll get why he’d make a perfect Alastor.
While some aforementioned names were dismissed by some, the majority of Potterheads believe that new and upcoming actors will be the best cast to play the wonder trio, Harry, Hermione and Ron. The Harry Potter films literally made Daniel, Emma and Rupert worldwide superstars, so it didn’t feel right to cast already famous young actors into the roles.
Speculations, speculations!
They can be frustrating but look at the new series this way. If we don’t like it, we’ll definitely have fun roasting it!