The division surrounding HBO Max’s Harry Potter television reboot hasn’t stopped the contenting wheel from turning. The first season of the new Harry Potter series continues to sprint toward its December 25 premiere date. While many elements are still being kept under wraps, Warner Bros. is ensuring that intrigue and whimsy are still part of the brand. The streamer keeps viewers engaged with new footage, notably the brief promo dropped on Twitter.
Only under 10 seconds, the spot shows a glimpse of Harry Potter (Dominic McLaughlin) getting his wand at Ollivander’s, and a key moment that was not shown in the feature films. The teaser shows Harry going on the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the Gryffindor team, and though this may seem familiar to movie-goers, the upcoming series has something up its sleeve.
New ‘Harry Potter’ Footage Is Already Showing Missing Plots From the Movies
Fans of the Harry Potter films are no strangers to content cut for time. Later films, such as The Half-Blood Prince, were notorious for omitting key details instrumental to not just the plot but the very title of the film. Even the debut film, The Sorcerer’s Stone, had to scrap some material from the shortest book in the series. Already, the television series has proven that it will set itself apart, at least concerning how faithful this new adaptation will be.
The new footage shows Harry going to a Quidditch match, but not the one featured in the Daniel Radcliffe film. The material shows red and yellow robes on opposing sides, confirming that one of these matches will be against the long maligned house of Hufflepuff. This game was missing from the film version of The Sorcerer’s Stone, though it did have relevant information that contextualizes Harry’s suspicion of Professor Snape, now played by Paapa Essiedu on the HBO series.
The feature film covers the Slytherin match, where the trio suspects that Snape is trying to curse Harry, but the Hufflepuff match is just as important. It comes soon after the first match and elevates Harry’s fears concerning Snape’s loyalty. This is also the time when Harry witnesses Snape demanding to know if Quirrell has found a way past Fluffy, the vicious three-headed dog guarding the stone. This is the reason why Harry is so suspicious of Snape.
Including these scenes will go a long way in making Harry’s motivations more cohesive, and is confirmation that the reboot isn’t just talking about being more faithful to the books. It actually will be. Snape’s character is tragically one of those on the chopping block due to the movies’ truncated runtimes. In the books, Snape has more room to breathe as a complicated anti-hero whose ultimate allegiance was a huge question mark until the very end.
This angle will be a huge asset to the story if and when the HBO Harry Potter series gets to the protagonist’s teen years. The stories only get longer and more emotionally complex as they continue. The feature films will always be beloved, but if there was a weak point, it was the slightly uneven narrative. The Harry Potter television series has a chance to outdo the film franchise in a major way; all it has to do is stick the landing.
via Collider