Following the reveal of John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore in set videos and images from the new Harry Potter TV series, further stills have given fans another look at the actor’s take on one of the greatest wizards in the Potter world, along with a character who was criminally not featured in more than a passing mention in the first Harry Potter movie despite him being a very important figure in terms of the story.
The new images have seemingly revealed an answer to the question many fans have been asking since the images of Lithgow appeared online: why is he at the beach? In other images from the same source, Lithgow’s Dumbledore is seen conversing on the coast with the character of Nicholas Flamel and his wife, Flamel being the creator of the titular stone in the first Harry Potter book – be it Sorcerer’s or Philosophers (as originally intended). What is more important is that this will be the first time Flamel has appeared in the Harry Potter franchise on screen, although he did appear in the Fantastic Beasts spinoffs, being played by Brontis Jodorowsky in The Crimes of Grindlewald.
What is perhaps more intriguing is that many fans believe that Jodorowsky is the one portraying the alchemist in the iteration, something that would serve as another unexpected connection to the other branches of the franchise. It has also sparked several calls for Jude Law to reprise his role as Dumbledore for flashback scenes in some of the future seasons of the show. While that kind of thing would have once been unthinkable, it is hard to rule out anything at this stage. You can see the latest images below.
The ‘Harry Potter’ TV Show Is Expanding on the Movies and the Books
While it is clear that the new iteration of the Harry Potter novels is going to be adding in many elements that were not practical to have in the movies, be it through runtime constraints or budget requirements, it looks like it could also be expanding on some parts of the books that were left vague or underdeveloped. One such moment could be the one that appears to have been filmed in the last few days.
In the books, Nicholas Flamel and his wife are granted immortality thanks to the Elixir of Life, a substance that can only be produced by the stone. Once Harry destroys it in the climax of the first novel, Flamel and his wife accept their fate of death. However, this is mostly handled in the book via an explanation by Dumbledore to Harry rather than being explicitly shown. It seems likely that Dumbledore’s goodbye to Flamel will now be played out in emotional scenes towards the movie’s conclusion.
There has been plenty of criticism of the TV show since its announcement over the reason why there is a need for a new Harry Potter reboot so soon after the conclusion of the movie franchise just over a decade ago. While justification has perhaps still not quite been earned, the inclusion of a deeper telling of story, even beyond the books, may go some way to giving it purpose.
- Showrunner
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Francisca Gardiner
- Directors
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Mark Mylod
- Writers
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Francesca Gardiner