HBO finally shares first trailer for the Harry Potter TV series

The first official trailer for the upcoming Harry Potter series is finally here.

The trailer features a generous amount of footage from the series, showing the abusive household that Harry grew up in before he was spirited away to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by the gentle giant Hagrid. On his way there he meets his two new best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. From the train taking the trio to school to the Quidditch pitch, Sorting Hat and more, there's plenty for avid Harry Potter fans to get excited about in the 2 minute and 9 second trailer. Watch below:

If there's one major takeaway from the trailer that I have, it's that Harry Potter has an absolutely massive cast. There are many more major characters we didn't get to see in the first trailer for the series, but we'll be meeting them in time.

In the series, Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton star as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger in the series. They'll be joined by an all-star cast, including Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Jon Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, and more.

While I’m not trying to be a real Moaning Myrtle, I do want to remind fans that they do have quite the wait for the first season of the Harry Potter series from showrunner Francesca Gardiner, director Mark Mylod, and the rest of the creative team. Harry Potter will premiere on Christmas 2026, so we've still got quite a few months ahead before we go to Hogwarts.

So, why did they drop the trailer now? Well, for a very good reason.  

The trailer drop comes one day after HBO shared the first official production still from the first season. The image features Harry Potter, played by McLaughlin, rocking Gryffindor Quidditch robes and walking onto the pitch. The image is from behind, so you can’t see Harry’s face, but he is holding his Nimbus 2000 broom. 

The trailer’s release and image drop correspond with the official launch of HBO Max in the UK on Thursday, March 26. I have a feeling this won’t be the only new trailer dropping to celebrate the release of the streaming service in the country, especially considering all of the massive plans HBO has in the works. 

It’s absolutely wild to me that HBO Max has not been available in the UK until now. Netflix and other streamers have been performing really well in the country for years. Now, HBO is ready for a piece of the pie with House of the Dragon season 3 coming this summer and Harry Potter coming over the Christmas holiday.

Accordingly, Casey Bloys, the CEO of HBO, talked about the upcoming Harry Potter series with Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. While Bloys didn’t give much away, he did drop two interesting nuggets for Harry Potter fans. 

In the Variety interview, Bloys revealed that Voldemort has not been cast yet, even after rumors (and some denials) from several major actors, including Cillian Murphy, Paul Bettany, and Tilda Swinton. 

Here's what Bloys said about those rumors, via Variety: "As a rule, I would say any rumors – don’t [believe them]. I don’t even know who we’re casting."

In The Hollywood Reporter interview, Bloys revealed that we will not be seeing a new season of Harry Potter every year simply because of how long production will take on each season.

"For some of the bigger shows like Harry Potter or House of the Dragon, or The Last of Us, huge world-building shows, it would be nice to have those on an annual basis. But from a production point of view, it’s just not possible. It’s not that everybody involved is just taking their time and sitting around. These shows are complicated to do. In order to bring a show back on an annual basis, you do have to start from the beginning with people who know how to do it, people like [The Pitt executive producer] John Wells or Greg Berlanti, and it’s helpful if there are not dragons that need to be rendered, or zombies and things like that."

So, that’s kind of a bummer for fans. With that said, I do think the first few seasons, which will be based on the stories from the books, of course, should be released fairly quickly. It’s those final books that will require a lot more time to film and bring to life. 

We’ll continue to share more updates about the Harry Potter series coming to HBO in late 2026. Stay tuned!