HBO's Harry Potter Is Making The Same Mistake As The Hunger Games, The Rings Of Power & Star Wars
Liz Hersey is an Editor and Critic for ScreenRant's TV team, editing, reviewing, writing, and creating content about the iconic shows you love to watch. She began her editing career at ScreenRant in 2019, shortly after joining the site as a Writer that same year.
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The more a fantasy franchise expands, the greater the risk of unpopular decisions, like new character development, and HBO's upcoming Harry Potter series isn't learning that lesson from other hugely popular genre IP. The lead-up to the show's Christmas 2026 premiere has been full of updates, from trailer drops to casting announcements — there's even already been a Harry Potter series recast.
In a recent development, actor Johnny Flynn, who's playing Lucius Malfoy, revealed that the iconic Harry Potter villain will be given a sympathetic backstory in the HBO series. Speaking to Radio Times, Flynn said, "He was one of those kids bullied in his school, and he’s now turned into the bully, so he doesn’t know another way."
"That’s how I want to play him, because I know those people quite well," the actor continued. "On the one hand, they were the people that bullied me, they were the abusers, but at some point, they were the abused. So, nobody’s outright good or bad in the world."
This is a drastic departure from Jason Isaacs' iconic sneering, ice-cold portrayal of the antagonist in the Harry Potter movies. While fans certainly don't want a carbon copy of that performance, this added development to Lucius Malfoy's character is the latest in a worrisome trend cropping up in fantasy franchises.
Lucius Malfoy's New Sympathetic Backstory Joins A Wider Trend Of Retroactively Softening Villains
Darth Vader, Sauron, and Coriolanus Snow are some of the most terrifying, powerful, and despicable villains in pop culture history; that's why fans love them, or at least love to hate them. Yet, as Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and The Hunger Games became increasingly popular and their lore expanded to include prequel movies and shows, these antagonists were all, more or less, rendered as tragic figures whose paths to villainy were often a result of their traumatic circumstances.
"How did a villain come to be the way they are?" can be a worthwhile question to explore. However, if it is, it's often done so in the very story that the villain is introduced. For example, the MCU's Black Panther accomplished this brilliantly with Erik Killmonger.
Ministry of Magic · O.W.L. Examinations Test Your Wizarding Knowledge “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
🦁GryffindorBravery
🐍SlytherinAmbition
🦅RavenclawWisdom
🦡HufflepuffLoyalty
🏰HogwartsMagic
01
What spell is used to disarm an opponent, famously becoming Harry Potter’s signature move throughout the series?
✓ Correct! Expelliarmus is the Disarming Charm. Harry used it so often that it became his trademark spell — even using it in his final duel against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Expelliarmus. Stupefy is a Stunning Spell, Protego is a Shield Charm, and Petrificus Totalus is the Full Body-Bind Curse. Expelliarmus forces an opponent’s wand out of their hand.
02
In “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” Hagrid introduces his Care of Magical Creatures class to a proud hippogriff. What is the creature’s name?
✓ Correct! Buckbeak the hippogriff became a key part of the story when Draco Malfoy insulted him and got injured. Harry and Hermione later saved Buckbeak from execution using the Time-Turner.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Buckbeak. Fang is Hagrid’s boarhound, Norbert is his baby dragon from the first book, and Aragog is the giant Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest.
03
What potion allows the drinker to assume the physical appearance of another person, and plays a major role in “The Chamber of Secrets” and “The Goblet of Fire”?
✓ Correct! Polyjuice Potion transforms the drinker into someone else for about an hour. Hermione brewed it in their second year to infiltrate the Slytherin common room, and Barty Crouch Jr. used it to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Polyjuice Potion. Felix Felicis is liquid luck, Veritaserum is a truth serum, and Amortentia is a powerful love potion. Polyjuice Potion is the one that changes your appearance.
04
How many Horcruxes did Lord Voldemort intentionally create to split his soul and achieve immortality?
✓ Correct! Voldemort intentionally created six Horcruxes: the diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, and Nagini. Harry became an accidental seventh Horcrux, making the total number of soul fragments seven — the most magically powerful number.
✗ Not quite! The answer is six. Voldemort deliberately created six Horcruxes: Tom Riddle’s diary, Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, and Nagini. Harry was an unintentional seventh piece.
05
How many points is the Golden Snitch worth when caught by a Seeker during a Quidditch match?
✓ Correct! Catching the Golden Snitch awards 150 points and ends the match. This is why the Seeker position is so crucial — catching the Snitch almost always wins the game, though famously at the Quidditch World Cup, Viktor Krum caught it but Bulgaria still lost.
✗ Not quite! The answer is 150 points. The Golden Snitch is worth 150 points and also ends the match. At the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Krum caught the Snitch for Bulgaria but Ireland still won because they were more than 150 points ahead.
06
What form does Severus Snape’s Patronus take — revealing his lifelong love for Harry’s mother, Lily?
✓ Correct! Snape’s Patronus is a doe — the same as Lily Potter’s. When Dumbledore asked “After all this time?” Snape famously replied, “Always.” It’s one of the most emotional reveals in the entire series.
✗ Not quite! The answer is a doe. Snape’s Patronus matches Lily Potter’s because of his deep, enduring love for her. James Potter’s Patronus was a stag — the male counterpart. The doe is what led Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor in the frozen lake.
07
What magical object must you look into to see the Mirror of Erised’s true purpose — and what does it show the viewer?
✓ Correct! The Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward) shows the deepest desire of whoever looks into it. Harry saw his parents, Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch captain, and Dumbledore claimed he saw himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.
✗ Not quite! The answer is their deepest, most desperate desire. “Erised” is “desire” spelled backward. The inscription reads: “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” Dumbledore warned Harry that the mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth, and men have wasted away before it.
08
The three Deathly Hallows are the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and which third object that Harry himself possessed?
✓ Correct! The Cloak of Invisibility was passed down through Harry’s family — he inherited it from his father, James. Unlike ordinary invisibility cloaks, this Hallow never fades or weakens, making it a true relic of Death from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”
✗ Not quite! The answer is the Cloak of Invisibility. Harry inherited it from his father on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. Together with the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, these three objects make up the Deathly Hallows from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”
O.W.L. Examination Complete Your Wizarding Score
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/ 8
Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, or Troll?
The Harry Potter books themselves do this with Lord Voldemort — even if Tom Riddle isn't exactly sympathetic, we understand him and his villainous motivation. But retroactively altering beloved baddies often strips them of what made them great characters in the first place — a mistake the Harry Potter show seems dangerously close to making with Lucius Malfoy.
Does Anyone Want To Feel Sorry For Lucius Malfoy?
Harry Potter isn't exactly short on morally grey characters to feel sorry for — there's Severus Snape, Petunia Dursley, and Lucius' own son, Draco Malfoy. Lucius doesn't need to be added to this group. Remember the "How did a villain come to be the way they are?" question? Lucius serves as that reasoning for Draco.
Lucius Malfoy was born into a pure-blood wizarding family in Harry Potter, and he was raised to believe that his kind were better than witches and wizards of human lineage. Enjoying immense wealth, privilege, and status throughout his entire life, Lucius never thought to question or care about whether this belief system was problematic, and he thus passed it down to his son. This is great characterization, and the show's new bullying backstory muddies it.
As warmly received as they were, a major complaint about the Harry Potter movies was how much material had to be cut from the books to accommodate a standard feature film runtime. However, as a TV series chronicling one book per season, HBO's Harry Potter has more time to explore the wizarding world in depth, and thus be more faithful to the novels — a promise that several people associated with the show have explicitly made. By inventing a sympathetic backstory for Lucius Malfoy, the Harry Potter show undeniably breaks that pledge.
- Release Date
- 2026 - 2026
- Showrunner
- Francisca Gardiner
- Directors
- Mark Mylod
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Dominic McLaughlin
Harry Potter
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Janet McTeer
Minerva McGonagall
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Albus Dumbledore
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Nick Frost
Hagrid
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.