The Harry Potter series premieres in December 2026

Fans are divided — but the teaser already has three million likes

On March 25, HBO released the first teaser for the Harry Potter series — and the reactions ranged from cautious excitement to full-blown outrage, but three million likes don’t lie: when December comes, everyone will be watching.

The premise is ambitious. Seven seasons, one book per season — meaning the story that once had to be ruthlessly compressed into a two-hour runtime can finally unfold the way Rowling actually wrote it.

The cast alone is worth talking about: John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Snape, Janet McTeer as McGonagall, Nick Frost as Hagrid. Hans Zimmer is handling the score. The overall tone, the creators promise, will be darker and more layered than the films.

Tom Felton — the original Draco Malfoy — offered his successor Lox Pratt three pieces of advice: have fun, photograph everything, and steal as many props as possible. “They’ll be worth a fortune someday.”

Why isn’t the fandom celebrating?

Millennials who grew up with Harry Potter have opinions. Loud ones. Here’s what’s driving the backlash.

“We’ve seen this before.” Several shots in the teaser look almost identical to scenes from Chris Columbus’s 2001 film — which, for many fans, raises an obvious question: what’s the point? What they actually want isn’t a retelling. It’s an expansion — a series about young Voldemort, the founders of Hogwarts, the full scope of a world that’s barely been touched.

The Snape problem. Paapa Essiedu as Snape has become the single biggest source of controversy. Part of the criticism is about faithfulness to the text — in the novels, Snape is described as pale and hook-nosed. 

A forgettable look. Critics are calling out the teaser’s muted color palette and — in what might be the most baffling complaint of the season — describing the music as unremarkable. The composer is Hans Zimmer. The man behind The Lion King, Gladiator, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Unremarkable.

The debate will keep going until December, and probably long after. But here’s the thing: the conversations about plot twists, character arcs, and childhood nostalgia are coming regardless. You might as well get ahead of them — the books aren’t going anywhere.