The second trailer for HBO’s upcoming live-action Harry Potter TV series dropped Wednesday and it’s quite magical if you ask me. There are many critics of this series who find its very existence distasteful for a host of reasons.
Some say any support for Harry Potter equals support for author J.K. Rowling (who is a producer on the show) and her controversial views on trans issues; others think the show is “woke” for casting a Black Snape. Still others simply think it’s too soon to reboot this franchise given the fact that Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out in 2011.
Then again, that’s fifteen years. I was 30 years old when that movie hit theaters. My now-teenaged children were toddlers. That’s a lifetime ago, one entire third of my life, and I’m excited to revisit Hogwarts and its colorful cast of characters, from our white-bearded headmaster, Albus Dumbledore to the big friendly half-giant, Hagrid to our trio of heroes, Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Today’s trailer is much more substantial than the earlier teaser. It shows the Sorting Ceremony, Quidditch, the Mirror of Erised, the troll, Herbology, the invisibility cloak and significantly more of McGonagall, Snape, Quirrell and the kids actually interacting.
Yes, a part of me wishes that the show had distanced itself more from the visual design of the films. A new take with more distinct visual cues would have been neat to see. At the same time, I recognize that a lot of this is nostalgia, and HBO is playing it safe for good reason. The movies have had as much influence on Harry Potter fans as the books at this point, much like the visual language of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films has been cemented into our sense of Middle-earth.
So HBO has hewed close to the original films in terms of visuals, but this second trailer makes it obvious that we are going to get much more than the movies offered. A full season of TV allows for less compression and more fidelity to the source material. I think the visuals, the costumes, the magic, the casting . . . everything in this trailer is just gorgeous and joyful and it makes me feel young and old at the same time. Peering into the future, I find myself also peering into the past, as if looking into a magic mirror. The Mirror of Erised, perhaps?
It will be hard for me, and for many others, to adjust to these new characters especially given how closely the costumes and sets and overall vibe is to the original films. I don’t care that Paapa Essiedu (who plays Snape) is Black (though it certainly raises questions about the backstory he shares with James and Lily Potter). Regardless of his skin color, it will be hard to imagine anyone other than Alan Rickman as Snape. That’s true of many or most of these characters (though Dumbledore was replaced three movies in and we all managed to accept that rather significant casting change during the films).
My only other concern for this TV show is how fast they’ll be able to pump out new seasons. Child actors grow up fast, often much faster than their characters. John Lithgow is also not a young man, though he looks rather hale and hearty as Dumbledore and I quite love him in every scene in this trailer. I suppose I will just hope and pray that HBO can maintain a fast production schedule. At least all the books are out already, unlike some other HBO fantasy projects . . . .
I Can’t Help But Be Excited For More Harry Potter
I was in Scotland last spring and my hotel was at the bottom of Victoria Street, the Edinburgh street famously said to have inspired Diagon Alley, which was pretty neat.. It seems no matter how controversial the author is, the magic of her stories is enduring. I tend to believe that we should find ways to separate the art from the artist, at least to a point, or we’d have very little left to enjoy. One can still admire Kanye West’s musical talent while acknowledging both his struggles with mental illness and the awful things he has said and done.. I am still a huge fan of films like Braveheart despite knowing that Mel Gibson has said truly terrible things in the past. It’s hard to know where to draw the line, and I think it’s up to each of us to make that choice and respect the choices of others.
For me, Harry Potter will always be a tremendously fun fantasy series, filled with mystery and adventure and friendship and very positive messages about loyalty and courage and doing the right thing, even when it’s hard. A lot of people have gone back and pored over the text to find anything that could be used as evidence of bigotry (the goblins as Anti Semitic tropes, for instance) but I think these efforts are largely misguided. It reminds me of the many extremists on the religious right who called the books satanic because they promoted witchcraft.
Sometimes a book is just a book and a story is just a story.
I’m excited to see this when it premieres on Christmas. The movies were great but they cut so much from the books. I’m hoping the show is as faithful to the novels as possible and, if nothing else, gives us the unabridged versions of these stories.
P.S. I did not even finish watching the Fantastic Beasts movies because I just really didn’t enjoy them and the honest truth of it is, I’d rather have a reboot of the original series than a mediocre spinoff.
The Impressive Cast And Crew Of The ‘Harry Potter’ Series
The three leads are essentially unknowns, while HBO has surrounded them with a very strong adult British-and-Irish-heavy ensemble, including Warwick Davis, the lone returning cast member, who reprises his role as Professor Flitwick. The main cast includes:
- Dominic McLaughlin — Harry Potter
- Arabella Stanton — Hermione Granger
- Alastair Stout — Ron Weasley
- John Lithgow — Albus Dumbledore
- Janet McTeer — Minerva McGonagall
- Paapa Essiedu — Severus Snape
- Nick Frost — Rubeus Hagrid
- Luke Thallon — Quirinus Quirrell
- Paul Whitehouse — Argus Filch
- Katherine Parkinson — Molly Weasley
- Johnny Flynn — Lucius Malfoy
- Lox Pratt — Draco Malfoy
- Bel Powley — Petunia Dursley
- Daniel Rigby — Vernon Dursley
- Amos Kitson — Dudley Dursley
- Bertie Carvel — Cornelius Fudge
- Anton Lesser — Garrick Ollivander
- Peter Serafinowicz — Peeves
- Warwick Davis — Professor Flitwick, notably reprising the role he played in the movies.
The series showrunner is Francesca Gardiner, known for her work on Succession, His Dark Materials and Killing Eve. That’s a strong pedigree. Succession is one of the best shows of the decade, hands down. Executive producer, Mark Mylod, also worked on Succession, as well as Game of Thrones, The Last of Us and The Menu.
John Williams composed the score for the films, while the show’s score is being composed by Hans Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers Music (Kara Talve and Anze Rozman) are composing the show’s score., which is quite interesting. Zimmer’s usual fare is about as far from Williams as you can get.
Harry Potter debuts on Christmas day on HBO and HBO Max. I will be reviewing it here on this blog.
What do you think of this trailer? Of the Harry Potter TV show? What is your stance on the ethics of separating the art from the artist? Where does one draw the line? I’m curious, as always, to hear your thoughts. Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
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