Et Tu, Nicholas Hoult? Actor Burns Queer Goodwill With Harry Potter Role

The flags in the film community are flying at half mast today after news that Superman actor Nicholas Hoult has been cast in the already greenlit second season of the upcoming HBO-produced Harry Potter remake series.Hoult will play Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of the upcoming series, per Variety. Lockhart is a main character in the second book, Chamber of Secrets. A celebrity wizard whose appointment at Hogwarts causes quite a stir, the vain Lockhart eventually gets unmasked as a fraud who doesn’t have the magical acumen he claims to possess.Backlash to news of the casting was swift, with many people upset that Hoult — who has a pretty full Hollywood dance card — would take a role in the Harry Potter series given the intensely anti-transgender views of its creator, author J.K. Rowling. Several posts on X, many of which quoted trade publication announcements of Hoult’s casting, took umbrage with Hoult’s decision to accept the role. “Be so in demand you can literally pick any role yet decide to star in a dogshit reboot tv show led by a transphobic bigot,” one person wrote on X, alongside a meme of Robert Pattinson in the upcoming film Primetime. “He had so much goodwill until this point,” wrote another person, alongside a black-and-white photo of Hoult with the years 1989-2026, seemingly making reference to the end of his beloved status. Another took a screen grab of Willem Dafoe in Spider-Man, edited to make it seem that he is saying “be ashamed of who you are.” “nicholas hoult it seems i’ve grown to loathe you in an instant there are no longer sexual urges or desires you come to me as an enemy whom i once threw apples at in papa’s orchard,” another post on X reads. Filming on the second season is set to begin in the fall, prior to the first season’s December 25, 2026 release date, per Variety. The series landed a second season renewal in May, well ahead of the first season’s debut. Hoult is the latest Potter-affiliated act