Right now is a good time to be a Harry Potter fan. A third Wizarding World of Harry Potter based on the hit films will open with Universal Orlando's new Epic Universe theme park in just a couple of months. However, what's perhaps even more exciting is that it looks like the long-in-development Harry Potter TV series is actually coming together as some key roles look to be set, or very close to it.
John Lithgow himself recently confirmed that he will play Albus Dumbledore in the new series. Now, Deadline is reporting that Paapa Essiedu, who had previously been rumored for the role of Severus Snape, is in the process of closing his deal on the part.
In addition, Janet McTeer, who most recently played Hera opposite Jeff Goldblum's Zeus on Netflix's Kaos, is reportedly in talks to play another Hogwarts professor, Minerva McGonagall, who was originally played in the films by the late Maggie Smith.
One thing that is very clear from all these casting decisions is that the teachers at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be skewing significantly younger than they did in the movies. This is an intentional move on the part of the series, as younger teachers are more accurate to the Harry Potter novels.
The plan for the series is to handle each book with one season of television as the movies did with each film. However, since that means each book will have several more hours to fill, expectations are that the show will ultimately be more complete as various characters, subplots, and details that had to be cut from the movies will be included in the series.
If nothing else, this will at least give the Harry Potter series a way to differentiate itself from the movies. From the time the show was first announced, there have been questions regarding whether this was something the world needed. The movies are generally seen as excellent and are still incredibly popular, as seen in the fact that the aforementioned theme park is building new attractions dedicated to the franchise even today.
The story may be the same, but with enough details changed, the show may feel different enough to perhaps find its own place. And so far, these casting updates have proven that statement to be true. We're still a long way off from seeing the end result, but it seems quite clear now that the Harry Potter TV show will happen after all, and the cast that's reportedly forming has me very excited.
There are certainly a lot of roles to cast for the new Harry Potter series, but with each one, we get closer to the new series becoming a reality. The biggest question, of course, will be who gets cast to play Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Thousands of young actors have reportedly auditioned, so it's very likely those will be the last names we know before production actually begins.
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