HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ Trailer Sparks Divided Reactions Online

HBO has released the first trailer for the upcoming Harry Potter revival, which will bring J.K. Rowling's popular children's books to the small screen for the first time.

Drawing aeshtetics from both the movie franchise and the source text, HBO's show aims to adapt one novel per season, giving each storyline much more time to develop than the movies allowed.

The first trailer offers a look at Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first season of the show in which Dominic McLaughlin's titular protagonist discovers he's a magical wizard and enrolls at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

It's been 25 years since the first Harry Potter movie came out, and HBO's revival seems to be sticking very closely to the visual style and production design that Chris Columbus pioneered in that film.

Harry Potter is perhaps the most beloved children's story ever written, so there's understandably been some backlash to HBO's decision to remake the films—which many audiences grew up with and will always consider the 'definitive' version of the story.

"I just don’t understand why this needed a remake", one X user wrote in response to a post that compared the show's new actors with the original ones.

In May 2025, Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout were confirmed to be playing Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley—the three main characters from the books. While most fans were happy with their casting, the announcement sparked an ongoing internet discourse about the purpose of this show altogether, with many questioning why HBO needed to remake and recast a franchise that was already successful.

This seems to be the prevailing opinion among fans online, even after HBO released the first trailer. "...The new Harry Potter show hasn’t even thought of a new way to attack the material. Same aesthetic. Same character design. Just repackaged slop," another X user wrote.

Admittedly, not everybody is so wary of the upcoming series—many fans are excited to see how this story is retold for a new generation. Crucially, the show will also (in theory) give the writers a perfect opportunity to include subplots that had to be cut from the movies due to time constraints.

"There's a good amount of material left there to explore, which obviously can't be fit into a 2 hour movie. Plus it's aimed at the younger audience, who might not like watching older movies," a final X user countered.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone will be released in December 2026 on HBO Max.