We’re about to enter a whole new era of the Harry Potter franchise, where the last film in this series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, was released in 2011. Today, probably in 2026, WB is back with a new Harry Potter reboot, a TV series that will likely last at least a decade.
The commission is still in its early stages and only now appears to be about to begin assembling its cast. The first reported lead role is that of Dumbledore himself, as Variety says Mark Rylance is the most sensible on HBO’s list for the role. Rylance may not be a familiar last name, but he has appeared in a wide variety of films, Bones and All, Dunkirk, Bridge of Spies and even Ready Player One. If you’ve paid attention to him, you’ll realize that he would probably be smart in this paper.
The last time Dumbledore from this series made headlines when Jared Harris said that he would not need to play the role like his father, Richard Harris, did. Harris died in 2002 and was replaced in the films by Michael Gambon until the end. Gambon died in 2023. Otherwise, there don’t seem to be consistent plans for the old actors to play the same roles or take on new roles within the series. Other prominent actors from the series, such as Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith, have also passed away since the films ended.
The search for the central trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione will probably produce an unknown crop of young actors, which is exactly what happened with the then-unknown Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. This time around, Hermione is expected to be played by a black actress, given that she was in The Cursed Child and author JK Rowling has previously said Hermione’s race was never actually specified. So it seems likely.
Like the original cast, the actors will probably need to be around 10-12, as Harry and the others were age 11 when the films started. But of course they grew up over time, and if this series lasts a full decade, if not more, we’ll see that happen with the new cast as well. There is little chance we do not see WB and HBO do a full seven seasons, albeit maybe even more than that for some of the longer books. And with 1.5-2 years between seasons of streaming shows these days, this may end up being a project even longer than the full scope of movies.
Author J. K. Rowling said she was “very involved” with the HBO series, which makes sense given that she produced the source material, but things have changed since the books were first published, and J. K. Rowling has been at the forefront of debates about transgender issues, which have fed into her public profile and led many progressives to say they would no longer include Harry Potter products by adding this series. But as we saw with the release of Hogwarts Legacy last year, a game that sparked strong protests, it still sold 30 million copies and was truly the best-selling game of that year, surpassing Call of Duty. WB and HBO recognize that the market is still there and will therefore continue making Harry Potter movies and video game projects indefinitely, ignoring any such crusades that oppose them.
I’d expect more casting rumors and confirmations to emerge in the coming months, and we’ll see if Rylance himself will sign on.
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