Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley, and Katie Leung as Cho Chang in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
When Harry Potter makes its TV debut, comparisons with the movie series and J. K. Rowling’s original novel series will be ubiquitous. In fact, the HBO show’s first trailer alone has generated endless debate about how this new version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone compares with what we’ve seen previously.
One key benefit of rebooting the world’s popular wizarding franchise is that the TV series has the chance to improve on the big-screen depictions of certain characters. With the benefit of hindsight and generational distance, it could even make some key figures in Harry’s story better than the versions of them we read on the page.
Alongside other problems with Harry Potter’s wizarding world that need fixing, it’s to be hoped that HBO goes some way to redeeming characters who got a raw deal in the movies, or whose original literary iterations left a lot to be desired. In the worst cases, a new screen rendering of these figures isn’t just advisable, but absolutely necessary.
Given the extra screentime this TV series has to work with, it has the opportunity to right the wrongs done to 10 members of the magical population, in particular. From what we know about HBO’s Harry Potter so far, it’s already taking steps to make some of their character arcs richer and more rewarding. 10 Lavender Brown The Harry Potter movies failed Lavender Brown badly, by not featuring her as a key supporting character in Harry’s cohort of Gryffindor House students before The Half-Blood Prince.
When she does appear on the scene in the sixth film, she’s a caricature of her portrayal in the books. As Ron’s clingy girlfriend with the habit of using a grating baby voice, the Lavender of the movies is a joke we get sick of pretty quickly.
The fact that she isn’t properly introduced onscreen before this tiresome adolescent fling doesn’t help matters, which is something HBO has confirmed it will rectify. 9 Firenze The Centaur The Harry Potter TV show can also do Firenze the centaur justice, after he was left out of the later movies entirely following a fleeting appearance in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. We should get to see a lot more of the character on the small screen, as he becomes Professor of Divination during Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts.
This subplot precipitates a violent confrontation between Firenze and his fellow centaurs of the Forbidden Forest, from which he narrowly escapes with his life. The movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix skips this book storyline wholesale due to lack of time. 8 Rita Skeeter Rita Skeeter is a Harry Potter villain with the potential to steal every scene she’s in, so it’s a crying shame that she’s so criminally underused in the movie series.
Skeeter is only briefly introduced in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and her interview with Harry for the Triwizard Tournament isn’t nearly as funny as it is in the book. Her character arc isn’t developed further onscreen, so we miss out on most of her best moments as a key nemesis to Harry, Ron and Hermione during the second half of their time at Hogwarts and beyond.
Skeeter is among the funniest characters J. K. Rowling has ever created, and deserves her chance to shine in the upcoming TV show. 7 Percy Weasley Percy Weasley’s Harry Potter storylines were cut from the movies for the most part, although he does make his presence felt during The Order of the Phoenix. Percy’s transformation from pompous but endearing Gryffindor prefect to callous and conniving Minister of Magic bureaucratic is among the starkest and best-written character developments in the books.
While it’s understandable that the movies didn’t see this arc as a priority to include in full, HBO’s TV show now has the opportunity to explore it in detail. The change we see in Percy is important to our perception of the Weasleys, who are otherwise overly idealized throughout the book series, as a family not without its flaws. 6 Professor Trelawney Professor Trelawney’s first prophecy in Harry Potter is an essential inciting incident in the origin story of the franchise’s titular protagonist, as well as an event which ultimately foreshadows the story’s climactic ending.
However, there’s more to the character than this single plot point, and she deserves more of a spotlight than she got in the movies. Emma Thompson played Trelawney superbly onscreen, capturing the finer points of her eccentric personality perfectly, and making her one of the franchise’s most memorable screen characters.
Yet, we didn’t get to see nearly enough of her, and her dismissal from Hogwarts in The Order of the Phoenix was underplayed to disappointing effect. 5 Cho Chang More than any other character created by J. K. Rowling, Cho Chang needs to be rescued from the author’s one-sided depiction of her in the Harry Potter books. Actor Katie Leung has spoken of the racist bullying she faced after her appearance in the franchise’s fourth and fifth movies, which must have had something to do with the name Rowling gave her character.
While “Chang” is a common Chinese surname, and “Cho” means “autumn” in Mandarin, the two names together sound suspiciously like a well-known racist pejorative used to bully East Asians. At the same time, Cho is thoroughly villainized during the second half of The Order of the Phoenix. Both the book and the movie push us to take Harry’s side against her unconditionally.
Although it’s unlikely to change her name, HBO’s Harry Potter has the chance to portray Cho in a more positive light, providing more balance to her breakup with Harry, and her view of the Dumbledore’s Army betrayal. 4 Remus Lupin Remus Lupin is one of the most important characters in the Harry Potter books, yet he barely figures in the films after his introduction in The Prisoner of Azkaban. As one of James Potter’s best friends, Lupin serves as something of a guardian to Harry, especially after Sirius Black is killed in The Order of the Phoenix.
Almost all of Lupin’s Harry Potter storylines are cut from the movies, with the result that audiences see him primarily as the werewolf who introduced Harry, Ron and Hermione to Sirius Black in the third installment of the series. There are so many layers to his ultimately tragic character arc, and the TV show must include them. 3 Ginny Weasley From Ginny Weasley’s very first Harry Potter scene at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the movie series completely undersold her as a character.
Ginny was in love with Harry from the moment she met him, yet we don’t get a sense of how hard she’s crushing on him from their initial meeting, in contrast to the scene’s original book version. What’s more, the movies don’t show us Ginny developing into the brilliant and courageous witch Harry eventually falls for in The Half-Blood Prince. Their initial romance onscreen is remarkably underwhelming, and fails to convince us that their relationship is worth rooting for.
It’s almost guaranteed that Gracie Cochrane’s Ginny will fare better in the HBO series. 2 Hermione Granger It’s tough to criticize either the movie or the book portrayal of Hermione Granger, given how iconic both versions of the character are. Emma Watson’s performance as Hermione is one of the very best things about the Harry Potter films, while the original book character is essentially J. K. Rowling’s avatar in the wizarding world.
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Yet, there are key elements of Hermione’s character that the movies leave out, from her heartfelt concern for elfish welfare, to her less attractive personality traits, which seem to have been excised from the screen after the first film. Even the Hermione of the books could do with some additional nuance, emphasizing her failures and vulnerabilities as well as her strengths and successes. HBO’s upcoming series can give us the best version of the character yet.
Arabella Stanton, the latest actor to play Hermione in Harry Potter, is already a force to be reckoned with, capable of bringing extra dimensions to the character on the small screen. 1 Lord Voldemort The most important character yet to have been cast in HBO’s Harry Potter is Lord Voldemort. Paul Bettany has responded to rumors that he’s playing Voldemort with confirmation that he hasn’t heard anything from the show’s production team, and it appears that no other actor has been contacted yet, either.
In any case, the series simply has to get this piece of casting right, in addition to the visual effects it will use to render the second iteration of Harry Potter’s big bad onscreen. Ralph Fiennes did all he could with the cinematic Voldemort, but the character doesn’t look, sound or feel as scary as he needs to be.
Besides the physical limitations of the movie Voldemort, the villain feels underwritten in the movies, lacking the personal depth that adds to his believability in the books. If HBO’s Harry Potter is to succeed, the series must give us the Lord Voldemort we’ve been waiting for.
Harry Potter Like Follow Followed Adventure Family Fantasy Release Date December 25, 2026 Showrunner Francisca Gardiner Directors Mark Mylod 6 Images Close Cast See All Harry Potter is HBO's adatation of the iconic Wizarding World book series tby J.K. Rowling. The first season, The Philosopher's Stone, follows the titular Harry Potter as he discovers his magical potential, enrolls at Hogwarts, and begins to uncover a sinister force. Powered by Expand Collapse
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