Harry Potter Movies Never Did Justice to Their MVP Character (And Reboot Won't Fix That)
Many fans hope that the new Harry Potter series will fix some of the mistakes of the original movies — but this one is impossible to fix, and it’s an actual tragedy.
The Harry Potter series had a bunch of amazing characters, but sometimes, they varied greatly between the books and the movies.
The “true” Potterheads haven’t stopped flaming over some of the changes the movie director had made to the original characters, and these comparisons are still a popular debate genre for fans.
But some characters were actually cast so perfectly that it almost doesn’t make sense that a living person can fit into the fictional wizard’s description this flawlessly.
This goes for some of the Hogwarts’ Professors and the Order of the Phoenix’s members — but most importantly, for the character that was both of those things.
If there was someone consistently witty, badass, just, and overall brilliant in both books and movies, it’s Professor Minerva McGonagall.
The movie McGonagall was just as phenomenal as her book counterpart thanks to the unmatched genius of Maggie Smith, one of the most renowned and popular British actresses.
With Smith’s masterful portrayal of her character, the movie fans had no choice but to fall in love with Professor McGonagall even more.
Maggie Smith stole every scene she was a part of, and some of the most badass and iconic moments throughout the movies feature her character: the hilarious Yule Ball dance practice when she danced with Ron; the duel with Severus Snape where she fought like a lioness to protect her students; and, of course, the shivering and funny “Piertotum Locomotor!” sequence that was simply unmatched.
Now, this is where we have a massive issue: there was simply not enough McGonagall in the movies. It’s not like there could be enough of her in the first place, but the films had criminally few scenes featuring the Head of Gryffindor — and unlike many other flaws the original movies had, this one can’t be fixed by the HBO version.
The reason for that is about as straightforward as it gets: there’s no way Maggie Smith will join the cast of the TV adaptation, and there will never be another actress like her.
The one and only perfect Minerva McGonagall is forever lost for the Harry Potter franchise, and the few scenes she had in the original movies are all we get.
But we still got the best McGonagall we could’ve ever wished for, and we thank Maggie Smith for deciding to join the Harry Potter cast many years ago.