First look at Harry Potter's HBO era looks a lot like its old one

Dominic McLaughlin sure looks like the boy who lived in a new, in-costume photo.

By Emma Keates  |  July 14, 2025 | 12:30pm
Photo: Aidan Monaghan/HBO
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First look at Harry Potter's HBO era looks a lot like its old one
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HBO just summoned fans’ first glimpse at one of the new golden trio in costume. It’s too early to really tell, but the network’s forthcoming Harry Potter series doesn’t seem to be changing the aesthetic all that much from the last round of Harry Potter adaptations. Our new boy who lived, Dominic McLaughlin, is wearing a slightly darker sweater than Daniel Radcliffe and has his scar placed to the side of his head rather than the middle, but otherwise, looks pretty much exactly like any kid who’s ever worn a Gryffindor Halloween costume for the last two decades. This writer has a sneaking suspicion that the newest Ron (Alastair Stout) and Hermione (Arabella Stanton) will follow a similar pattern.

Courtesy of Aidan Monaghan/HBO

Of course, HBO has no real reason to completely throw away the original films; the massively successful franchise was produced by its parent company, Warner Bros., and “will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally,” as the streamer shared in a previous press release. It also promised that “each season will be authentic to the original books.” While that potentially means the re-inclusion of some fan-favorites like Peeves the poltergeist and Ginny’s entire personality (as well as some lesser-loved aspects like that whole Hermione house elf storyline), it also wouldn’t be surprising if the general Hogwarts look was just too engrained in the collective conscience to conceive of reworking at this point. 

Either way, we’ll know relatively soon. Production has officially begun at Warner Bros’ studios in the U.K. as the series looks forward to a 2027 premiere date. The wizarding world also gained some new members, as of today. Rory Wilmot has been cast as Neville Longbottom, Amos Kitson will play Dudley Dursley, Louise Brealey will play Madam Rolanda Hooch, and Anton Lesser will play Garrick Ollivander.

Of course, this whole enterprise also funnels money directly into the transphobic pockets of J.K. Rowling, who serves as an executive producer. While Succession‘s Francesca Gardiner has the primary writing credit on the series, Rowling recently posted that she’d “worked closely with the extremely talented writers” and had read the first two episodes, which she deemed “SO, SO, SO GOOD!” “The decision to be in business with J.K. Rowling is not new for us,” HBO CEO Casey Bloys said in May. “We’ve been in business for 25 years… It’s pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She’s entitled to them. Harry Potter is not secretly being infused with anything. And if you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter.”

 
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