It’s only been a week since HBO announced its first round of casting for their new Harry Potter adaptation and I’m already exhausted. As one of the many millennials who grew up devouring JK Rowling‘s magical world only to be emotionally sucker-punched by her late career heel turn as a professional bully, I wish this show wasn’t happening at all. We don’t need a new Harry Potter adaptation. The original run of films starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are still universally beloved. The bestselling books are still flying off of shelves. Butterbeer is still being gulped by the gallon at Universal Studios. There’s no obvious reason for this reboot except corporate avarice.
But then again, what if there’s a creative vision for the Harry Potter television series we haven’t considered yet What if HBO has hired Mark Mylod to direct the Harry Potter show so Mark Mylod can do what he does best?
What if Mark Mylod is going to kill Harry Potter?
Okay, let’s take a beat, so I can explain my reasoning here. When I think of Mark Mylod, the first show that comes to mind is HBO’s Succession. It’s the series that launched the director into the stratosphere, earning him the Emmy for “Connor’s Wedding.” That single episode stands out as one of the best episodes of not just Succession, but television ever, because it stunningly kills off Logan Roy (Brian Cox) mid-season. The rest of “Connor’s Wedding” showcased how grief starts as shock before it settles into sorrow.
Last night, Mark Mylod did again. He directed The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2. Besides featuring an incredibly well-directed siege battle, full of pyrotechnics, prosthetics, and onscreen magic, the episode also featured the shockingly early, out-of-nowhere death of series star Pedro Pascal. Joel is tortured to death by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), transforming the season’s focus in one fell swoop.
Mark Mylod is a director who is just really good at killing characters. In his recent feature film The Menu, he showed us what people look like dying as human s’mores. During his run on Game of Thrones, he introduced and slaughtered Ian McShane in the space of a single episode, gave Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) her twisted revenge on Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma), and spawned memes with Olenna Tyrell’s (Diana Rigg) bitching farewell. The man can kill.
All of which is to say is Mark Mylod is HBO’s go-to guy when the network wants to kill a major character off in a way that will throw the audience into absolute tumult. Like, total meltdown mode.
So if Mark Mylod has been attached already to Harry Potter, who is he going to off? My money is on Harry Potter himself.
As someone who likes to think of all book adaptations as narratives that take place in alternate universes to what’s on the page, I intellectually dig the idea of exploring a Wizarding World where the “Boy Who Lived” actually died. What would the repercussions be? Would we see Voldemort triumphant? Or would it be Neville Longbottom who would slide into the role of hero? What if Harry doesn’t die as an infant, but during his first day at Hogwarts? Could Hermione Granger take over as series protagonist? She’s definitely always been smart enough to save the world. Suddenly there is opportunity for this show to say something new about the series that simply wasn’t there before!
Okay, of course, I know there is no way this is going to happen. Harry Potter is not going to die. This show is going forward. I will most likely watch and cover it, because watching and covering television is my job. (Also I’m morbidly curious about how this is all going to play out.)
However, for a split second last night, realizing that once again Mark Mylod had devastated an entire fan base by killing a lead character just when you’d least expect it…I wondered, “What’s he going to do to Harry Potter?”
The post Mark Mylod Has Killed Pedro Pascal, Ralph Fiennes, And Ian McShane. Is Harry Potter Next? appeared first on Decider.
