Season one of the Harry Potter TV show will be airing on December 25th, 2026. I have put together some bold predictions for the season! This includes how I think Black Snape will go, the breakout character, and more.
Bold Harry Potter Season 1 Predictions
1) Fans Will Love Paapa Essiedu’s Snape
You have more-than-likely heard about the biggest controversy heading into the new HBO show: Snape is black. This is a massive deviation from the books, where Snape has pale, white skin.
As a book reader myself, I will admit that I was definitely thrown off when I first heard the news. Snape is such a key character and it felt like such a massive change to the source material. I wasn’t against it per se, but I was more left wondering, why would they do this?
Now that some time has passed, I actually think it could be a good thing and I am now excited about it. I say this for a few reasons:
A) Alan Rickman was so good as Snape in the movies, any actor was going to be in tough trying to replicate his brilliance.
Unless the actor was somehow better than Rickman, fans would constantly compare the two as the show went on. There would be no stopping it since Rickman’s portrayal is so beloved.
By turning Snape black, they are clearly defining that this is a new version of the character. And fans will be able to separate Rickman’s Snape and the new HBO Snape. I think this could be a good thing as we don’t want to see someone doing an Alan Rickman impression for 7 seasons. This is clearly a new take on the character and we can judge it based on the actor’s performance and dialogue.
B) Paapa Essiedu is an awesome actor and will probably knock this performance out of the park
HBO doesn’t go outside of the box, without having an insane amount of confidence in the actor’s abilities. It takes a lot of balls to make such a drastic casting change. They knew this was going to be controversial and disliked by hardcore readers. And they still decided to do it.
They must have loved Essiedu’s auditions and said screw it. This guy is going to crush it and we don’t care about the criticism. That makes me feel like he is going to knock it out of the park.
I completely understand my fellow book readers being hesitant about this as it is such a big change. I know it can sometimes take fans out of it when the onscreen portrayal isn’t what we fell in love with in the books. While saying that, I think it could be a positive thing and we might end up really enjoying this new version of Professor Snape. I will at the very least be giving it a chance.
Note, make sure to also check out our article: ‘5 things the Harry Potter TV show needs to include for season 1’.
2) Season 1 Will Break Streaming Records
I think that this show is going to be an absolute monster. My prediction is that the first season is going to break a bunch of streaming records for HBO.
I feel like they are doing this at a perfect time. Harry Potter fans who love the books and movies are going to tune in and watch for themselves. Fans are older now, and many have families of their own. I could see them introducing their kids to the franchise that they fell in love with.
It will be very hyped on social media as it draws closer. The trailers did some massive numbers already, so that is a great sign. I am expecting this to be a cultural phenomenon type of moment, where everyone is watching and giving their takes on the show.
I think the first season is going to break records for HBO. The question is, can they put out a quality show and create a new streaming monster?
I am hopeful they will. I think this will break records.
3) Peeves Will Be The Standout Character Of Season 1
Peeves is a character that was featured a bunch in the books but didn’t make an appearance in the movies. This was a shame and many fans wished that he was included when the movies came out.
I am predicting that Peeves will be the biggest standout character of season 1.
I just think the character is fantastic and I always loved him in the books. Also, I am excited to see what he does in the show and can’t wait to see him cause chaos around Hogwarts. Fans who aren’t book readers will fall in love with him and then book readers will love to see him.
I expect to see many: “why wasn’t Peeves in the movies?” Tweets when the show airs.
I think he is going to crush it and make a lot of new fans.
What are your bold Harry Potter HBO predictions? Let me know in the comments or on Facebook.