Rumors had started to spread that Nicholas Hoult (Superman) was joining the cast of the upcoming Harry Potter reboot for HBO, and a few characters emerged as early contenders regarding the role he would play. Now that role has been revealed, and while it wasn’t the role many were expecting him to play, fans already know he’ll be great for one key reason.
According to a new report from Deadline, Nicholas Hoult will be playing the role of not Voldemort, but Gilderoy Lockhart. Hoult will be playing the role in the upcoming second season, which is adapting Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and will be following in the footsteps of Kenneth Branagh, who played the role of Lockhart in the original film.
As for fan reactions, anything to do with Harry Potter is going to cause some divisive ones, but in terms of Hoult’s casting in the role of Gilderoy Lockhart, many fans point to Hoult’s ability to nail the egocentric and pompous nature Gilderoy is kown for, with @K_Messias_ putting it brilliantly, writing, “Yeah I can already see Nicholas Hoult absolutely INSUFFERABLE as Lockhart 
perfect casting.”
When the rumors of Hoult’s casting first surfaced, many immediately assumed he was playing the role of Harry Potter’s main antagonist, Lord Voldemort. The assumption makes sense, as Hoult has shown a knack for playing a great villain, and few villains are as infamous as Voldemort.
When the Gilderoy news hit, fans were slightly taken aback, and some were understandably bummed that he wasn’t playing Voldemort. That said, many Harry Potter fans are very much on board to see what Hoult can do with the self-obssesed role.
@MintedTools pointed to another Hoult performance as evidence he can knock this out of the park, writing, “I can absolutely see this! After playing Emperor Peter in The Great, he can absolutely pull off that fakey pompous narcissistic character!”
@Ya_boy_Rabbit thinks it will work as well, and then threw out another great name for a possible Voldemort, writing, “He is so good. Still hoping for Tom Hiddleston as Voldemort.” @DominicAccess wrote, “He’s going to be great!”, while @stargazer0118 shared a Will Ferrell reaction GIF to celebrate the news.
@jalal95553930 wrote, “Nicholas Hoult as Lockhart? Finally someone who can actually pull off a magical “look at me” pose without a wand,” while @gentlegee1997 wrote, “This casting is definitely going to get people talking. Nicholas Hoult brings a completely different energy to Gilderoy Lockhart, which could give the character a fresh identity while still keeping the charm and ridiculous ego fans remember. Now the big question is: can he make Lockhart’s famous smile as annoyingly convincing as it needs to be? 
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is set to release on HBO on December 25th.
