HBO’s Harry Potter TV series is already making big changes to the characters and their stories, including the rewriting of a major character who was deeply misunderstood in the movies. The Harry Potter movies continue to be very popular, but even though it has been over a decade since they ended, it’s not the time for a film remake.
However, the wizarding world is returning as a TV adaptation of the Harry Potter novels. Developed by Francesca Gardiner and directed by Mark Mylod, the Harry Potter series is intended to adapt one book per season, with season 1 currently projected for an early 2027 release. So far, the cast for the Harry Potter series has been revealed, as well as some changes to the books.
Among those is a change to how the character of Draco Malfoy (Lox Pratt) will be handled and portrayed, and it’s a major change that will greatly benefit the show and character after what the movies did.
HBO’s Harry Potter Series Will Show The Malfoys’ Family Dynamic
Since his first appearance in the first Harry Potter novel, Draco Malfoy is established as an antagonist and almost villainous character in the saga, and one who would go against Harry a couple of times during their stay at Hogwarts. While this will surely still be the point in the series, it’s making a huge change to how it addresses Malfoy’s most personal sides.
Speaking to 1883 Magazine, Pratt shared that season 1 of the Harry Potter series will include scenes showing the family dynamic of the Malfoys at their home. Pratt shared that there will be scenes that aren’t in the books that will give some extra insight to the audience, such as the teachers “in their little rooms” and Draco Malfoy at home.
Thanks to this, the Harry Potter series will depart from Harry’s perspective and help develop other characters, like Draco, a bit more, and even helps the novels too, as they didn’t go into these more personal sides of other characters, either.
Draco Malfoy Is A Misunderstood Antagonist In The Harry Potter Movies
Before the audience gets to see what Voldemort is truly capable of and where he has been hiding, Harry Potter leads them to believe that the ones they have to be wary of are Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape. Even after Voldemort’s return, Malfoy continues to be treated as a character on the dark side, when he’s more of a misunderstood young man.
Unlike characters like Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco Malfoy isn’t inherently bad – it was his complex family background and their past (with Lucius being a Death Eater and Bellatrix being his aunt) and his upbringing that made him the way he was in the Harry Potter novels and movies. This wasn’t shown until Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where Draco was forced by Voldemort to kill Dumbledore.
Even after that, Malfoy continued to be portrayed as a bad guy in the Harry Potter movies, when he was, in fact, not only misunderstood but also a much more complex character. The Harry Potter show is on its way to fixing this by showing the Malfoys’ dynamic at home and exploring why Draco was the way he was before and after Voldemort’s return.
How The Malfoys’ Family Scenes Will Impact Future Harry Potter Seasons
The scenes at Malfoy Manor in season 1 of the Harry Potter series will not only impact Draco Malfoy’s portrayal, but also that of the entire family in subsequent seasons. As mentioned above, Lucius was a Death Eater and was, in fact, one of Voldemort’s most loyal followers. Lucius avoided Azkaban when Voldemort was defeated by the Potters by claiming to have acted under the Imperius Curse.
It’s not surprising, then, that when Voldemort made his full return, Lucius was terrified, as were Narcissa and Draco. Watching the family dynamic of the Malfoys closely from the beginning of the series will be key to understanding their reactions, thoughts, feelings, and actions when Voldemort returns, adding depth to their characters that the Harry Potter movies never could.
Source: 1883 Magazine.