Well, HBO has finally released the first trailer for its Harry Potter TV series, set to premiere this Christmas, and it takes you right back to the beginning. That’s largely the only source of vague intrigue for me, and I’m being generous here. Yes, it sets the stage for a bold reimagining of the Harry Potter world. However, the trailer is content with a safe, almost unimaginative makeover.
All right, what am I looking at?
Let’s get the intros out of the way before we get into the meaty parts (if any). HBO reinterprets JK Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books and dedicates each season to a novel. The first season will adapt Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stonewhich essentially starts history from scratch for a new generation.
A new cast takes on some of the most iconic roles in modern pop culture. Dominic McLaughlin takes on the role of Harry Potter, while Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout play Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Lox Pratt appears as Draco Malfoy, John Lithgow takes on the role of Albus Dumbledore and Janet McTeer plays Professor McGonagall.
Paapa Essiedu, who was cast as Severus Snape, has already faced significant backlash online, including racist insults and threats. While speculation continues about who will play Voldemort, HBO has confirmed that they have not yet found He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
The trailer for the Harry Potter series relies on nostalgia instead of offering something new
I’ve seen this world before and what disappoints me most is how little it seems to have changed. The trailer takes you almost blow by blow through the same visual language that the Harry Potter films established years ago. Harry is back in the cupboard under the stairs, staged almost exactly as in the film.
The Hogwarts letters arrive in the same handwritten, insistent manner that defined the original moment. When you finally see Hogwarts, it carries the same vast, gothic aesthetic that has already been burned into our minds. Even the costumes look nearly identical, as if they were designed to reassure you rather than surprise you.
In the trailer there is a scene where Hagrid is shown from behind. He looked so similar that for a second I actually thought it was Robbie Coltrane again. The hair, the fur, the silhouette, everything is so close together that it feels like you’re copying the films rather than reinventing them. And it’s not just one or two moments. The Dursleys’ house looks exactly the same. The Hogwarts Express looks exactly the same, right down to the way Ron and Hermione meet Harry in that compartment, and it plays almost exactly the same as before.
A reboot shouldn’t just be about reminding you of what you loved.
The hallways of Hogwarts now look like they came straight from the Harry Potter films. This feeling of déjà vu builds up quickly, and not in a good way. It doesn’t feel like the series interprets the books differently. It feels like carefully retracing steps that have already been perfected. This is where my frustration sets in. A reboot shouldn’t just be about reminding you of what you loved. It should offer a new lens, a new tone, or even a new visual identity. I’m having a hard time finding any of this here.
This should be deeper, but where is that depth?
The biggest promise of this series was not just to retell the story, but to expand it. A television format offers more time, more detail and more space to explore characters and subplots that the films had to leave behind. I really hope that HBO took at least some of the unexplored moments and smaller character beats from the books and incorporated them into the series. That’s the only advantage of this format, and not using it would be a missed opportunity.
However, the trailer doesn’t convey any of this ambition. It offers no new perspectives or deeper character work. What I see instead is a production that seems hesitant to break away from the films. It’s heavily influenced by nostalgia, almost as if it doesn’t dare to stand on its own two feet. Curiosity seems to be replaced by appreciation, and there is a danger that the entire project feels unnecessary.
A reboot that feels like a repeat
At this point, the Harry Potter series feels like a repeat, and that’s a much harder sell than HBO might think. I’m not saying the series can’t prove me wrong. There is still time to reveal something deeper, something bolder, something that justifies its existence. But first impressions count, and this trailer doesn’t make a convincing case.
If anything, it raises a simple but uncomfortable question. If this version looks, feels, and moves like the one we already have, then why does it even exist? I’ve experienced similar pain with Amazon’s TV show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie, with comedian Stephen Colbert as the writer, sounds like another heartbreak simmering in the depths of creative regurgitation.
