Harry Potter Movie Theory Reveals Who’s Playing Voldemort in the HBO Series

Ralph Fiennes will be incredibly difficult to replace as Voldemort, but that is what HBO is doing for the upcoming Harry Potter series. That being said, although many members of the new Harry Potter cast have been announced ahead of Season 1’s Christmas Day premiere, the new actor to step into the role of the overarching villain in J.K. Rowling’s fantasy saga has yet to be revealed. Filming has wrapped on the first batch of episodes, and Voldemort does feature in the book that’s been used as the source material. So, who is going to be tasked with portraying the new version of You-Know-Who?

I think I’ve figured it out – and, no, I’m not necessarily claiming it’s going to be a Ralph Fiennes franchise comeback. Not only would that blur the line of separate continuities between the movies and the TV show, but Fiennes himself has admitted in an interview with the BBC that he thinks “that ship has sailed,” as he hasn’t been contacted to return as Voldemort, despite a desire to do so. However, I am convinced that we can look to the movies to find the answer to who will be the next Voldemort in Harry Potter – in Season 1, at least.

I’m Convinced Luke Thallon Will Play Voldemort in ‘Harry Potter’ Season 1

Sure, Ralph Fiennes is the most prolific Voldemort actor in the Harry Potter movies, but he wasn’t the first to play the role. In the first feature-length installment, 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s Stone (Sorcerer‘s Stone in the US), Voldemort was played by two separate actors. Richard Bremmer was responsible for the flashback scene that showed Harry surviving the attack that killed his parents. In the movie’s climax, which revealed Voldemort had been concealed as a parasite beneath Professor Quirrell’s turban, the villain was played by someone else.

As such, because there’s been no official announcement about who will be playing Voldemort in Season 1 of the HBO series, I think it’s reasonable to assume that history is repeating itself. Luke Thallon, who has been tasked with playing the new version of Professor Quirrell, could also be playing a dual role like his predecessor. Ian Hart, who played Quirrell in 2001, was also responsible for the digital facial reference and voice of Voldemort during that showdown near the Mirror of Erised. Not only would this explain why the HBO cast currently feels a man short, but it also aligns very well with the assumed in-universe logic that’s suggested by Hart playing both Quirrell and Voldemort in the same movie.

It’s important to bear in mind that, during the early stages of Harry Potter‘s story, Voldemort has no physical form of his own. Since his spell backfired in Godric’s Hollow, he’s been existing as a sort of non-corporeal parasite. Latching onto Quirrell is one of the only ways he can survive, but would it really make sense for the face on the back of Quirrell’s head to look or sound anything like Voldemort from before he tried to kill Harry? I don’t think so. It’s more logical to go with the movie’s implied reasoning that Voldemort has to borrow Quirrell’s physical traits in order to communicate. Therefore, I’m all for the same thing happening in the HBO series. Thallon can play both Quirrell and the parasitic Voldemort, and it would make complete sense, just like it did in the first movie.

HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ Series Still Has Time To Cast a New Full-Time Voldemort

Warner Bros. Pictures

Voldemort plays a big part in the first two Harry Potter stories, and is functionally absent from the third before returning with a vengeance in the fourth. With the series adapting one book per season, that means it won’t be until Harry Potter Season 4 that an actor will be required to take on the role as we saw Fiennes play it. After all, Voldemort doesn’t have his own body in Harry’s first year, and the villain only appears as a spectral version of his younger self in The Chamber of Secrets. Although HBO’s take on the second book is set to enter production later this year, there is still Season 3 that needs to be tackled first, ahead of Voldemort’s true return in Season 4. In other words, what’s the rush?

Sure, there would arguably be a satisfying sense of continuity to see the new actor on the back of Thallon’s head in Season 1, then as a separate entity when he returns in Season 4, but as I’ve already mentioned, that wouldn’t even be canonically desirable. All of this is to say that while my theorized casting of Luke Thallon as Voldemort in Season 1 might be something of a stopgap measure, it’s one that both fits the world of the show and doesn’t reek of a casting department trying to buy time. There is already plenty of time. Besides, considering Fiennes has publicly confirmed he’d be open to returning as the iconic antagonist, I’m not completely counting out the possibility that he’ll be announced as coming back in the HBO Harry Potter series when the time comes.

Release Date

2026 – 2026

Showrunner

Francisca Gardiner

Directors

Mark Mylod