Nicholas Hoult has been confirmed as Gilderoy Lockhart for the second season of HBO's "Harry Potter" series, with Variety reporting further details on the show's expanding cast and creative team as filming approaches. The casting continues a run of high-profile franchise roles for Hoult, who currently plays Lex Luthor in James Gunn's DC Studios films and previously appeared as Beast in the X-Men series, and comes as the adaptation prepares to move into "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" following its December debut with "Philosopher's Stone".

Filming on season two is due to begin this autumn, with Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout returning as Harry, Hermione and Ron; John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu and Nick Frost have also been cast as Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Hagrid respectively. Jon Brown, a writer on the first season, has been promoted to co-showrunner alongside Francesca Gardiner, with J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts and David Heyman among the executive producers; Lockhart, the vain and unqualified Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, was previously played by Kenneth Branagh in the 2002 film.