Today I was thinking about the new Harry Potter series from HBO, and I realized that I am probably one of the people who is not very excited about it. I do not want to hate something for no reason, especially before the full series even comes out, but from what I have seen so far, it just does not feel right to me.
The biggest problem for me is the cast. If you have watched the original Harry Potter movies, those actors almost get printed into your brain. When someone says Harry Potter, I immediately picture Daniel Radcliffe. Hermione, Ron, Snape, and Dumbledore also already have very specific faces in my mind. Even though I am only eleven, I still feel very connected to those original characters because that is the version of Harry Potter I grew up watching.
That is why seeing the new cast feels strange. I understand that HBO cannot just find exact copies of the old actors, and I also think a remake should be allowed to do something different. Still, I feel like there should be some connection between the character I already know and the new version. With some of the new actors, especially Harry and Snape, I just do not feel that connection yet.
Snape is probably the hardest character for me to accept. Alan Rickman made Snape so specific that his face, voice, movement, and personality all became part of the character. Of course another actor can play Snape differently, but that also means he is competing against a version that millions of people already remember. I think that is one of the biggest problems with remaking something as famous as Harry Potter.
The other thing that bothers me is the visual feeling. The original Harry Potter movies felt very real to me. Hogwarts looked huge, old, dark, strange, and sometimes even a little dangerous. It felt like a place that could actually exist somewhere. The castle had this mysterious feeling that made the whole world seem magical without constantly trying to prove that it was magical.
The new version looks much more polished and digital to me. Maybe some people will like that, but I do not really love it. I know the original movies also used visual effects, but somehow the new look feels cleaner and more artificial. Harry Potter, in my opinion, should not feel too perfect. I want Hogwarts to feel ancient. I want the hallways to look mysterious. I want the castle to feel enormous, almost like you could get lost inside it.
I think that is also why remaking Harry Potter is such a difficult job. The original movies already set the standard extremely high. If someone is going to make a new version, it cannot just be another Harry Potter. It needs to give people a reason to care about this version too.
For someone who has never watched Harry Potter before, the new series might be completely fine. This could become their Harry, their Hermione, their Ron, and their Hogwarts. But for people who already watched the old movies, the problem is that we are constantly comparing the new version with something that is already living in our heads.
That is exactly what keeps happening to me. Every time I look at the new version, my brain immediately compares it with the old one, and right now, the old one keeps winning.
That does not mean I think the new series will definitely be bad. I have not watched the full show yet, so I cannot fairly judge the acting, the storytelling, or how the characters will develop. The new series might even do some parts of the books better than the movies did, and I could completely change my mind later.
But right now, I am not excited about it.
For me, Harry Potter is no longer just a story. It is already a very specific world, with a certain atmosphere, a certain castle, and certain characters that I have known for years. When you remake something like that, you are not starting from zero. You are competing with people’s memories.
And right now, my memories are still winning.
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