'Harry Potter' Reboot Is Finally Remedying One Major Mistake Made in the Movies

If you’re a Harry Potter purist, we have some good news about the upcoming reboot.

To say that reactions to the Harry Potter reboot have been mixed so far would be an understatement. First announced in 2023, the TV series – which will adapt one book per season, tallying seven seasons in total – simply comes too close to the end of the original movies, in the eyes of some fans. That’s despite the fact that Warner Bros. has promised a more faithful adaptation this time around.

Others have criticized the decision to draw more attention (and money) to JK Rowling in the wake of the author’s comments on gender identity and the transgender community.

While Rowling (who’s sparked beef with the original cast of the show in recent years) isn’t writing or directing the show, she does reportedly hold an executive producer role, and has already made it clear on social media that she’s deeply involved with the production in one way or another.

Regardless of fan sentiment, the project is pushing ahead. Filming started on the fantasy show’s first season earlier this week, with Dominic McLaughlin replacing Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, joined by Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.

So far, we’ve already received official glimpses at both McLaughlin and Frost in costume, with fans praising the differences in costume and aesthetic between McLaughlin’s Boy Who Lived and Radcliffe’s take on the wizard.

Behind-the-scenes images of filming at London Zoo also revealed glimpses of Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Harry’s unpleasant aunt, and Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, Harry’s equally unpleasant uncle.

Behind-the-Scenes Images Confirm Important Detail About ‘Harry Potter’ Reboot

Images from the zoo – which, just like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), will serve as the backdrop for the scene in which a young Harry unwittingly sets a snake on his cousin using the power of Parseltongue – proved that the show is fully embracing the 1990s aesthetic. This was surprisingly missing from the original adaptation, despite the fact that production started on the tail end of the decade.

They also proved that the show is taking its wizarding world source material much more literally than the movies.

Dudley Dursley with his friend Piers Polkiss at the London Zoo

Filming for the HARRY POTTER TV series lasted a day yesterday in the penguin enclosure and reptile house pic.twitter.com/FZwNewJ0wJ

— Wizarding World Direct (@WW_Direct) July 17, 2025

Shots from London Zoo showed Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Harry’s cousin. They also revealed that he will be accompanied to London Zoo by his friend and lackey, Piers Polkiss (portrayed by Mickey McAnulty).

While the character is relatively minor in the books, he does bolster Dudley’s image as a full-blown bully – both at home on Privet Drive and at Harry and Dudley’s school. The character was omitted from the films, likely due to casting and budget constraints. Technically, his character isn’t really essential to the story, but his presence does emphasize just how much Harry suffers in his pre-Hogwarts life.

With Piers included in the show, it does drive home the extent to which Warner Bros. is adhering to its source material this time around. Due to the time pressures of film, it’s not uncommon for studios to cut unnecessary characters when possible – especially when the source material is as long and complex as the Harry Potter books.

Other characters axed from the original movies include the likes of Winky, the house-elf of the Crouch family in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” who helps reveal certain plot points in the book, as well as Andromeda Tonks (Nymphadora Tonks’ mother and the sister of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy), Ludo Bagman (a Ministry of Magic employee who seems to take a liking to Harry in “Goblet of Fire”), and Voldemort’s wizarding family, the Gaunts.

While mentioned in the film, Teddy Lupin – son of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin – isn’t a huge focus in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). The fact that Lupin makes Harry his godfather is omitted from the film, as is Harry’s initial argument with the werewolf early in the story.

Most prominently, the films axed an entire Weasley. While Ron’s older brother Charlie is mentioned by name on a handful of occasions, he doesn’t actually appear in the films – even when his older brother, Bill Weasley, gets married to Fleur Delacour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010).

Whether the TV series includes these axed characters remains to be seen. However, if the show has already gone so far as to include Piers Polkiss – arguably the most minor of minor characters – that’s a promising sign of what’s to come from the rest of the series.

As filming continues through May 2026 (with a second season reportedly kicking off filming just months later), we’ll hopefully receive more subtle hints about what to expect from the series. While we obviously already know the basic plot of each series, Warner Bros. has hinted that it has plenty of surprises up its sleeve that will help differentiate this second adaptation from the original.

One of these surprises is the identity of Lord Voldemort. While several names have circulated the internet as potential actors for the Dark Lord previously portrayed by Ralph Fiennes – including Cillian Murphy, Jamie Campbell Bower, James McAvoy, and Tom Hiddleston – Warner Bros. hasn’t confirmed who will take over the role.

As per a recent report, it has no plans to do so until the show officially hits the air, with audiences (hopefully) only finding out who plays He Who Must Not Be Named when he first hits the screen.

Are you excited for the Harry Potter reboot?