Nicholas Hoult will play Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of HBO‘s “Harry Potter” TV series, Variety has learned from sources.
The highly-anticipated series is due to debut on Dec. 25 on HBO and HBO Max, with the first season adapting the first book in the novel series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” The show has already been renewed for a second season, which will be based on “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.”
Lockhart is a central character in “Chamber of Secrets.” As the book begins, he is a famous wizard known for many heroic acts that he has documented in a number of books, though he is also incredibly arrogant and vain. He becomes the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, but it quickly becomes evident he is not qualified for the job.
Lockhart was previously played by Kenneth Branagh in the “Chamber of Secrets” movie in 2002.
This will be Hoult’s latest appearance in a major franchise. He previously played Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast in multiple X-Men films, and currently plays Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s DC Studios films. He originated the latter role in “Superman” in 2025 and will reprise it in the sequel “Man of Tomorrow” in 2027.
