Ralph Fiennes may have accidentally just confirmed who the new Voldemort is in major spoiler

Excitement is building amongst Harry Potter fans as more details about the new series continue to be released.

Despite the film franchise being one of the most popular in the world to this day, especially given everyone still watches them at Christmas, HBO and JK Rowling both decided that we needed a fresh TV series where we return to Hogwarts.

Filming for the new series is already underway, and we've seen the cast of some of the biggest characters confirmed, with the actors for Harry, Ron and Hermione all revealed last year, as well as the likes of Dumbledore, Hagrid and Severus Snape.

But something all fans of the wizarding world have wanted to find out is the identity of the legendary villain Lord Voldemort, despite him playing a relatively minor role until he returns in the fourth book.

Given that we're already having to wait until 2027 for the first season, it could be a decade until we see Harry enter the Triwizard Tournament and Voldemort return, especially if the creators stick to the filming schedules we've seen Wednesday and Stranger Things adopt in recent years.

Ralph Fiennes has mastered the craft of playing a villain over the years, whether it be Tom Riddle himself, SS officer Amon Göth in Schindler's List, or his upcoming portrayal of President Snow in the Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping.

Naturally, he's been questioned about who is going to step into his shoes as the iconic Lord Voldemort when the HBO series lands, and fans reckon he might just have let it slip before the producers planned.

Speaking at an event, he was asked by a journalist who he thinks should be the actor to take over the role.

He said: "I'm told [my shoes] are already filled, aren't they?"

When asked for more details, and who would be his personal choice, Fiennes replied: "‘I’ve already said, I think Cillian Murphy is very good. Very good choice."

He then looked as panicked as if someone had just discovered one of his Horcruxes when he perhaps realised that nothing official had actually been confirmed.

There's no doubting Murphy's talents as an actor, as we've seen with his Oscar-winning performance in Oppenheimer, and he's well used to playing the villain, as we saw in Peaky Blinders.

However, anyone who is getting overly excited by Fiennes' prediction might want to wait for a more official confirmation, especially as Murphy has shut down the idea before.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, the Irish actor clarified: “No. No. Genuinely … I mean, my kids show me occasionally, but I don’t know anything about that.”

He also suggested that it would be difficult for anyone to follow in Fiennes' footsteps and he certainly isn't wrong there, as who on Earth could replicate his incredible quotes and laughs from the final films.

LADbible group has contacted has Murphy’s representatives and HBO for comment.