HBO Max finally released the full trailer for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on September 2, 2026, to a massive fan reaction. The eight-episode first season arrives on HBO and HBO Max on Christmas Day, December 25, 2026, and fans have been eagerly waiting for the first full trailer.
Francesca Gardiner serves as the showrunner, and Mark Mylod is the director of this Harry Potter series. Dominic McLaughlin leads as Harry, alongside Arabella Stanton‘s Hermione and Alastair Stout‘s Ron.
Most of the response has been warm, which is what you would expect for the biggest fantasy property on the planet. But the internet being the internet, a loud pocket of viewers went the other way, and some of their complaints are genuinely wild.
How Did the Harry Potter Trailer Fare Among Social Media Users?
For the broader audience, the trailer of HBO’s Harry Potter series landed well. Plenty of fans said it hit them with a wave of nostalgia, and a lot of them thought Hogwarts looked exactly the way it should. Every platform had its detractors, though, each annoyed about something different.
On X, one of the loudest complaints was the colour grading. Users called the show dark, muted and drained of warmth, and insisted the films were bright and vibrant by comparison. That is the strangest argument of the lot, because the movies were not vibrant at all, especially once Alfonso Cuarón took over.
Others skipped the visuals entirely and argued the show is doomed by politics from both directions, and will not last the seven seasons HBO wants. Here are some of the comments.
Just compare the lighting, how far have we fallen? pic.twitter.com/GowKS1KXYK— 98AL (@98ALTV) September 2, 2026
Why is everything so dark and muted, where’s the warmth and vibrance?— Samsquantch (@TheSamsquantch) September 2, 2026
This looks terrible. It’s like all the magic the movies provided us has been stripped away.— Lewis Allen (@lallen125) September 2, 2026
This will be a failure on both the right (for imaginary ‘wokeism’) and the left (for funding a ‘TERF’).Will be liked by a few legacy HP fans but won’t be enough for HBO to fund 7 seasons IMO.Other than that… it just looks bad..— FilmGems (@TheFilmGems) September 2, 2026
Reddit went a different way. One of the major complaints there was that the series looks like a budget copy of the films, with the same sets, the same tone, and the same beats, offering nothing new. Snape’s casting also came up repeatedly. Here’s what Reddit commenters said.
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Over on YouTube, the mood was simple exhaustion, with comments asking why this story is being retold at all and answering their own question with HBO’s greed. The comments read:
Why are we doing this again? Oh money. Got it.@ragingmollusk2640
There are so many great books out there, and here we are doing this thing again.@Brejan
They definitely cast Snape as rage bait cause there’s no way they thought it be a good idea@ury54
None of it is especially convincing. On account of the trailer, this looks like a series worth showing up for. We loved how the show kept the book details, which many fans missed in the movies.
What Does the Harry Potter Trailer Reveal?
Alastair Stout, Dominic McLaughlin, and Arabella Stanton as Ron, Harry, and Hermione in Harry Potter | Credits: HBO
The trailer opens with Janet McTeer‘s McGonagall leading the first years to the Sorting, cutting away to each of the trio as she calls their names. Hermione quizzes her train compartment about summer reading, Ron sits crammed among his brothers at home, and Dumbledore searches the Great Hall for Harry. The Sorting plays out exactly as written, with Harry pleading for anything but Slytherin.
John Lithgow‘s Dumbledore is warmer and more playful than Richard Harris’s take, and he fills the Great Hall tables with a snap of his fingers. Paapa Essiedu‘s Snape gets one cutting line about Harry’s lack of talent in class.
There is a real focus on Harry being ordinary. He mangles the spell Avifors in transfiguration, gets a pep talk from McGonagall, and plays wizard’s chess with Ron. Quidditch gets proper screen time, including Hermione charming a Gryffindor lion to life on a banner.
Dumbledore also warns McGonagall that the children can be prepared but not protected. We also get a look at the troll, the Mirror of Erised, and a hooded figure at Hagrid’s hut. Plus, there are two wand-lit figures on a bridge who look a lot like James and Lily Potter. The trailer is loaded with details and looks stunning visually.
Do you agree with the negative views of these social media users? Let us know in the comments below!
Harry Potter arrives on HBO and HBO Max on December 25, 2026.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
