HBO’s Harry Potter series casts fan-favourite character who was famously cut from the movies

HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter television series has finally righted a massive, 25-year-old wrong by casting a fan-favourite character who was completely axed from the original films.

When the new, high-budget adaptation lands on TV screens on Christmas Day, it won't be repeating one of the most controversial decisions made by the original movie producers.

Instead, Hogwarts’ most iconic troublemaker, Peeves the Poltergeist, will officially be roaming the school corridors to cause absolute chaos for a whole new generation of young wizards.

According to reports, legendary British comedian Peter Serafinowicz has officially signed on to play the chaotic ghost.

Serafinowicz is a certified pop-culture icon, best known by sci-fi nerds as the terrifying voice of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, as well as his hilarious roles in Shaun of the Dead, Spy, Parks and Recreation, and John Wick: Chapter 2.

Serafinowicz will be bringing Peeves to our screens for the first time (Sam Simpson/Dave Benett/Getty Images for British Vogue)

As Peeves, he is set to be a constant thorn in the side of Argus Filch, bringing the ghost’s signature book-accurate antics—like throwing things, pulling pranks, and causing general schoolyard mayhem—to life.

While Peeves has popped up in various video games over the years, including the open-world RPG Hogwarts Legacy, he has never actually made it to the silver screen.

The troublemaking ghost was originally supposed to appear in 2001's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but his entire subplot was brutally cut in the post-production editing room.

Chris Columbus, who directed the first two films in the franchise, has since admitted that cutting Peeves was "one of [his] biggest regrets about the first movie.”

In a legendary bit of Harry Potter trivia, iconic British comedy star Rik Mayall (The Young Ones, Drop Dead Fred) actually spent three whole weeks filming scenes as Peeves for the 2001 movie before being deleted entirely.

Speaking about the brutal cut back in 2011, Mayall hilariously revealed he didn't even have the heart to tell his kids he'd been removed from the final cut.

"I did a little bit of filming then I went home and got the money — significant — then a month later they said 'Rik, sorry about this, you're not in the film,'" Mayall said at the time.

"They came back [from the cinema] and said, 'It's bloody good make-up. You didn't look like yourself at all, Dad, it's really good.' They thought I was playing Hagrid!”

The upcoming HBO series is set to span seven-seasons, with each individual season adapting one of J.K. Rowling’s original seven novels to "go deeper" into the lore than the films ever could.

Serafinowicz joins a star-studded cast that already includes Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Hagrid.