Harry Potter star concerned over recast characters in reboot

You didn’t imagine it. There really is a Harry Potter reboot in the works. Yes, a reboot of what is arguably the most popular film series of all-time, because that makes perfect sense.

Confirming a series of rumours, HBO officially announced their new Harry Potter TV series just last week. The “decade-long” project is set to be a faithful adaptation of JK Rowling’s popular book series, featuring an all-new cast. Rowling will serve as an executive producer, with many fans already claiming that they’ll thus boycott the series. It’s thought that approximately one season will be dedicated to each book, plus casting rumours are already rife. One pre-existing Harry Potter star, though, has expressed concern about the recasting process.

Take a look at the reveal trailer for the series below.

As reported by our friends at LADbible, Nymphadora Tonks actress Natalia Tena has confirmed that she’s definitely not on board with the idea. In conversation with Digital Spy, Tena made the tongue-in-cheek comment, “If they do [recast], they deserve to die! No, no, it’s terrible.” Many years ago, Draco actor Tom Felton said he’d love to one day play Lucious Malfoy in a potential reboot, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some familiar faces pop up in the project. Clearly, some are against the idea though.

Many fans of the series share Tena’s sentiment. Twitter user 258jessy wrote, “The thought of Harry potter being recast makes me sick,” while grisselroman added, “A large part of the success of the Harry Potter franchise was the absolutely magnificent character casting. I can’t imagine how they will ever recast these roles.” It will be interesting to see how fans receive the new cast.

Likewise, what will happen with set design? The Harry Potter film franchise has such a distinctive look. Reuse the same sets and people will question the necessity of the remake. Create new sets and I’d imagine there’d be a whole host of ‘That’s not the Great Hall’ tweets. HBO has got their work cut out. That’s for sure.