Will Gary Oldman return as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter TV reboot? Here’s what the actor said

Millennials still remember Gary Oldman as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies and Commissioner Gordon in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy. He was interviewed by Entertainment Tonight's Denny Directo at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. The interview began with Oldman talking about returning as Jackson Lamb in the sixth and seventh series (the British term for "seasons").

However, Directo then asked Oldman about the possibilities of returning to his iconic role of Sirius in HBO's Harry Potter series, which is scheduled to release in early 2027. Oldman completely ruled out the possibility of returning, citing that the studio does not want to cast another actor from the original eight movies. Then, the actor went on to point out that he is too old for the role anyway.

What did Gary Oldman say about returning as Sirius in HBO's Harry Potter show?

As mentioned earlier, Gary Oldman said that he would not be returning to play Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, in the HBO series that's expected to run on the network for a decade. He said:

“No, absolutely not. They wouldn’t … I don’t think they want to come near the original. I’m too old now to play Sirius Black.”

Oldman is not wrong when he added the part about him being too old to play Sirius Black. It must be noted that Oldman himself was a decade older than the character when he joined 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Canonically, Sirius died in his 30s, as he was imprisoned in his 20s and spent a decade in Azkaban.

However, just because he rescinded his name from the possibility of playing Sirius does not mean that Oldman cannot play a role in the future season of the HBO show. It is also important to look back at Oldman's comments from June this year in a Variety interview, where he revealed that he is old enough to play the role of Dumbledore now:

"My personal feeling is they're not going to go anywhere near people that were connected to the original. I'm actually very intrigued to see it because so much of the books were cut. I would've fancied a go at Dumbledore. I'm getting up there now, it's the right age for Dumbledore."

While John Lithgow was cast earlier this year to play the role of the Hogwarts headmaster, there are several older wizard roles that Oldman can play in the future seasons of HBO's Harry Potter. Also, when it comes to playing the role of Sirius Black, there is a popular internet fan-cast for the role.

Chronicles of Narnia and The Punisher's Ben Barnes is a popular choice to play Sirius in the HBO show.

Ben Barnes has been in several genre properties, including comic book and fantasy book adaptations like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Punisher, and Shadow and Bone. Thus, it is not surprising that Barnes has been a popular fan casting choice for playing Sirius Black in the HBO Harry Potter show. It was popular enough to get Barnes last month.

The Punisher actor had participated in Tampa Bay Comic-Con on Saturday, August 2, 2025. A fan asked Barnes about the possibility of playing Sirius Black in the Harry Potter show, to which Barnes answered:

“Like, you know, most people in the world found those stories and those movies when they came out, something for a bit, you know, really joyful. And obviously, in the last few years, I found it much more — a more difficult thing to talk about, because there’s obviously, like, a clash between some of the author's views on things and the way I see the world. So I think that has made it, sadly, sort of tainted this sort of beautiful mythology of how I saw those stories. But it doesn't change the fact that it’s a really — such a cool character, and, you know, to be associated with a character like that from other people who do love it, it's like — it’s like a really beautiful thing, and it makes me happy.”

Barnes is one of the few actors who has pointed to J.K.Rowling's tweets attacking transgender and as**ual people in the past few years. It needs to be noted that a lot of people from the queer community who used to be Potter-Heads for a long time abandoned the franchise the very moment it became public that Rowling doesn't support transgender people. Therefore, not a lot of celebrities want to address these issues and would like to avoid them at all costs.

While the older generation celebrities like Gary Oldman might be open to giving Rowling and her creation grace, millennials and younger actors, including the main trio of the Harry Potter film franchise, can't associate with the series anymore without weighing the risks associated.

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All eight movies of the Potter franchise are accessible via streaming on HBO Max and other streaming platforms.

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