Credit: Warner Bros.HBO has finally lifted the curtain on its upcoming Harry Potter TV series. And now, we have our first look at one of the franchise’s iconic villains.
On March 25, the first official trailer for the reboot premiered, leaving fans totally spellbound. It confirmed that the first season is titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone—dropping the name Sorcerer’s Stone, which was given to the original book and the 2001 film for U.S. audiences—and also revealed the release date: Christmas Day this year.
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First Look at Harry Potter Characters
Running for over two minutes, it also gave Potterheads their first look at the new Hogwarts trio, Harry Potter (Dominic McLaughlin), Ron Weasley (Alastair Stout), and Hermione Granger (Arabella Stanton), along with Albus Dumbledore (John Lithgow), Rubeus Hagrid (Nick Frost), Minerva McGonagall (Janet McTeer), and Severus Snape (Paapa Essiedu).
While several other Wizarding World characters appear, including Draco Malfoy (Lox Pratt), Petunia Dursley (Bel Powley), Vernon Dursley (Daniel Rigby), Molly Weasley (Katherine Parkinson), Dudley Dursley (Amos Kitson), and Garrick Ollivander (Anton Lesser), some are missing — namely the villains (at least those among witches and wizards).
Which Villains Appear?
Of course, the only real villain in the first season is Quirinus Quirrell (Luke Thallon), the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who turns out to be a puppet for a weakened Voldemort as he seeks the titular Philosopher’s Stone, which would grant him immortality.
The Dark Lord himself has yet to be cast (or revealed), although many names have been doing the rounds over the past year, including Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer).
There are even rumors that HBO and Warner Bros. have been auditioning men and women for the role. A more recent report suggests that Adolescence (2025) actor Owen Cooper has been cast as the series’ young Tom Riddle. With all that said, Voldemort will still make an appearance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone—on the back of Quirrell’s head.
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Iconic Villain Revealed in New Special
There is another villain in Philosopher’s Stone many fans tend to forget about: Peter Pettigrew. Of course, at this point in the saga, Pettigrew, an Animagus, is in animal-form as Ron’s pet, Scabbers. The garden rat isn’t revealed to be the Dark Lord’s most loyal follower in hiding until Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but he’s still there in plain sight.
But before fans even had the chance to scour every frame of the new trailer, in a last-minute reveal, HBO dropped the teaser Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic Special, a behind-the-scenes featurette that premiered over the weekend, on Sunday, April 5.
The new documentary, which runs for around 25 minutes, offers fans “an exclusive look inside the HBO series from the artists bringing it to life” ahead of its Christmas premiere.
Watch the trailer below:
While the trailer for the series itself reveals plenty, Finding Harry gives us a closer look at the new wizarding world, including sets, props, costumes, concept art, BTS footage, and stills from the series, as well as the new, state-of-the-art animatronics, such as the students’ owls, some of the magical creatures, and even Scabbers, who looks startlingly like a real rat.
The VFX artists explain how Scabbers is able to move and behave more fluidly, which doesn’t just give him a more realistic presence in the series but also makes Ron Weasley actor Alastair Stout’s performance easier and more convincing when they’re both interacting.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
The Harry Potter TV series will span seven seasons (one for each book by J. K. Rowling) over a 10-year period, suggesting it won’t be released annually. HBO chief Casey Bloys recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “For some of the bigger shows like Harry Potter or House of the Dragon, or The Last of Us, huge world-building shows, it would be nice to have those on an annual basis. But from a production point of view, it’s just not possible.”
HBO’s Harry Potter is written and executive-produced by showrunner Francesca Gardiner (HBO’s Succession, His Dark Materials, Killing Eve). J. K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films are also onboard as executive producers. Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) will executive-produce and direct multiple episodes.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone premieres on December 25, 2026.
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