A new Harry. A new Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore and Snape. And a whole new Hogwarts are revealed in the first teaser trailer for HBO's Harry Potter TV series.
The trailer introduces all the season's main characters and shows several iconic moments.
One big surprise: The trailer reveals a premiere date of Christmas 2026 — which is earlier than the 2027 date that's been previously announced. Another surprise: The season's official title is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone — not simply Harry Potter as has been widely assumed.
The show introduces a young Harry (Dominic McLaughlin) and his friends Hermione Granger (Arabella Stanton) and Ron Weasley (Alastair Stout) as they attend their first year at Hogwarts. Among the adult cast, there's John Lithgow as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Professor Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as the half-giant Hagrid and Paapa Essiedu as the Potions Professor Severus Snape.
One element that's recently sparked headlines is Essiedu's casting as Snape. Having a Black actor in the role described in the books as a pale white man (and previously played by Alan Rickman) has caused an uproar in some segments of the fandom. The actor has recently revealed he's received death threats over the role and that he's used such backlash to "fuel" his performance.
"I've been told, 'Quit or I'll murder you,'" Essiedu told The Times. "The themes that run through Harry Potter are of love triumphing over hate — of acceptance. And that's why I'm doing it."
HBO boss Casey Bloys has responded by telling reporters the show has a "serious security team" in place.
Recently, original Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe made headlines for saying he suspected McLaughlin would be far better in the iconic lead role than he was. "I'm sure Dominic is going to be better than me," Radcliffe said. "I learned as I went. I look back on what I did now with a lot more kindness, and I find it less embarrassing now that I'm older. But I was very much learning how to do it for a long time on Potter."