Harry Potter TV Series Set Photos Reveal John Lithgow As Dumbledore

The "Harry Potter" series set to air on HBO continues to take shape — and now, we've just gotten our first look at John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, the wise and eccentric headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

On the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Wizarding World Direct posted some sneaky photos taken of Lithgow in full costume, complete with his long white beard and flowing robes. Lithgow follows in the footsteps of the late Richard Harris — who played Dumbledore in the first two "Harry Potter" movies before he passed away in 2002 — and Michael Gambon, who took over the role in Harris' stead. (Gambon himself passed away in 2023.)

FIRST LOOK at John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore in the HARRY POTTER TV series pic.twitter.com/1HuxpNfq93

— Wizarding World Direct (@WW_Direct) October 8, 2025

Led by "Succession" veteran Francesca Gardiner as showrunner (alongside her collaborator on that show, Mark Mylod, who will direct episodes and serve as showrunner), this new "Harry Potter" series is recasting the entire Wizarding World with new and familiar faces. Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton will play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, taking over from original stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, and established performers like Paapa Essiedu ("I May Destroy You") and Nick Frost ("Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz") will play adult characters like Hogwarts Potions master Severus Snape and Hogwarts groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid, respectively. We actually got a look at Frost as Hagrid and McLaughlin as Harry not too long ago, which raised some ... interesting questions about the point of this "Harry Potter" series to begin with.

If you're just learning about this "Harry Potter" reboot for the first time reading this, you may have a few questions, and they might even be questions like "What?" and "Why?" These are fair questions, particular because the film franchise only wrapped up its run in 2011. Still, HBO, Francesca Gardiner, Mark Mylod, and deeply controversial original series author Joanne "J.K." Rowling are forging ahead with this new adaptation of the seven "Harry Potter" novels, and over time, we've learned that the show intends to devote an entire season to each book.

On paper (pun intended), this seems like a pretty good idea! Unfortunately, there were a lot of great things left out of the original "Harry Potter" movies despite them spanning eight movies by breaking the final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," into two films. Still, it feels a little weird to simply reboot the same story we've already watched play out instead of something that fans have been wanting for years like, say, a prequel based around the Marauders. As I referenced earlier, Chris Columbus, who directed "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," its immediate follow-up "Chamber of Secrets," and produced the third film, "Prisoner of Azkaban," after handing the director's chair to Alfonso Cuarón, saw set photos of Nick Frost and Dominic McLaughlin and pointed out how eerily similar it looked to his own work. Whether or not this "Harry Potter" series recreates the Wizarding World faithfully, it might not end up delivering anything new, but we'll see.

The "Harry Potter" series is set to premiere on HBO in 2027.