Summary

Harry Potter HBO series may have 8 episodes per season, starting with 2 seasons.
Controversial casting choices include beloved characters recast with new faces.
Voldemort's casting remains a mystery; Ralph Fiennes offered advice to next actor.

Recent reports have teased the episode count for HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series, and the scoop has also revealed surprising casting details concerning one of the most iconic villains in history, Lord Voldemort. The Harry Potter reboot was announced back in 2021, a decade after the release of the final original movie, Deathly Hallows Part 2. The project is eyeing a 2027 debut with filming currently underway, and since fans have a long wait ahead of them, insider information and set photos are keeping excitement at an all-time high.

Fans are understandably divided on the reboot, especially regarding new casting, and several of their beloved characters have already been recast with fresh faces for a new generation. John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, and Paapa Essiedu have already been confirmed to play Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Severus Snape, alongside the golden trio casting of leads Harry, Ron, and Hermione. There’s still a long way to go until the full roster is complete, but one character’s casting is still shrouded in mystery, and it’s the main antagonist of the franchise.

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By Matthew Wilkinson

Rumor Suggests Harry Potter Reboot Will Have Eight Episodes Per Season and Voldemort Has Already Been Cast

Voldemort grabbing Harry by the face in Harry Potter

Reported by Redanian Intelligence, the initial scoop from an unnamed source suggested the first two seasons of the reboot would be six episodes long, with succeeding seasons possibly increasing to eight. The original report has since been deleted, but reliable leaker Daniel Richtman later confirmed that both seasons 1 and 2 would be eight episodes each, with both runs being filmed back to back to adapt The Boy Who Lived arc once again. Inevitably, some of the reboot’s choices have been the subject of backlash, including fans’ disappointment at seeing Nick Frost’s Hagrid for the first time, but recent casting rumors regarding Voldemort have caught the community’s attention.

Both the since-deleted report and Richtman’s scoop also claimed the role of Voldemort had already been cast. Details suggested the antagonist could appear in multiple, earlier episodes, which is surprising since Voldemort only had a brief appearance in the first Philosopher’s Stone film, before debuting in full during Goblet of Fire, the fourth entry in the cinematic series. In the interim, the fantasy community has been hard at work fan-casting the next He Who Must Not Be Named, including one Harry Potter director who tossed a prolific actor’s name in the sorting hat. However, most are still very attached to the original films’ noseless sorcerer.

Playing the Dark Lord in four of the eight original films, Ralph Fiennes recently offered advice to the next Voldemort actor, and it makes sense why HBO is keeping the reimagined villain’s reveal until later, perhaps up until the character’s unveiling in the series. The source material describes Voldemort as having a skeletal structure, pale features, a snake-like nose, and feline eyes, which were brought to life somewhat in Fiennes’ rendition. One actor who’s made a name for himself playing impressive, prosthetic villains is Nosferatu and IT performer Bill Skarsgard, or perhaps HBO will go down the fan-favorite route and get Peaky Blinders and Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy on board.