So much of HBO’s upcoming reboot of Harry Potter touts a real “nobody asked for this” energy. From the misguided casting of Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, to author J.K. Rowling’s continued involvement in the franchise, the new Harry Potter series already has the bearing of a massive mistake. And it’s only growing more troublesome as new details about the show emerge. Harry Potter started filming in 2025, and though details about new changes have come piecemeal, it seems that another antagonist is getting a frustrating update in the reboot.
As a series-length adaptation of Rowling’s first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first season of the Harry Potter series will have a much larger canvas on which to tell its story. That means the reboot will contain some new additions — and according to Lox Pratt, who plays Potter’s arch-rival, Draco Malfoy, in the series, those additions include more backstory for one of the most loathed characters in the Wizarding World.
