We finally have an update on who will be portraying Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, although it’s a disappointing one. There have been speculations and rumours previously about who will get to play the show’s antagonist, with names like Cillian Murohy’s being attached to the project, however, it turns out, things haven’t been taken forward yet.
HBO boss Casey Bloys has confirmed that the streamer is yet to cast Voldemort, which is surprising, considering how far production has come. We just got our first look at the upgraded Wizarding World in the first teaser for the show, but it’s still not known whther we’ll see the Dark lord anytime soon or not.
Promoting the show in the UK, Bloys stated,
“No, we have not. As a rule, I would say any rumors – don’t [believe them]. I don’t even know who we’re casting. I really don’t! I would take everything you read with a grain of salt.”
On another note, the delay does make sense because Voldemort does not show up in the films and even the books till the fourth part, when Harry meets Voldemort for the first time. Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort only joined the films after the third Harry Potter film so if HBO wants to follow a similar strategy, it would be understandable.
More details about the Harry Potter series
HBO has finally given us the first look at our new Potterverse, and from how things look, we finally may get the thorough Harry Potter adaptation we deserve. Principal photography for the show started in July 2025 and it’s dropping on Christmas 2026. Around 32,000 kids auditioned for the roles of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The show eventually landed on Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton, who are now the new Golden Trio.
The supporting cast is also stacked. John Lithgow is Dumbledore, Janet McTeer is McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu is Snape, and Nick Frost is Hagrid. Warwick Davis is coming back to reprise Flitwick from the original films. Hans Zimmer is composing the score, part of which we have already heard in the teaser.
The creative team is solid too, with Succession’s Francesca Gardiner as the showrunner, Mark Mylod will be directing, and J.K. Rowling is an executive producer. The show is supposed to be more faithful to the books, longer, deeper, and more nuanced. The hope is that spreading the story across TV allows the story to actually breathe and develop characters properly with every arc getting the space it deserves.
Harry Potter will be available to stream on HBO Max from Christmas.
Edited by Nibir Konwar