HBO is about to start filming on a brand new Harry Potter TV series, adapted from the books by J.K. Rowling. This show will adapt the books in more detail than the movies did.
The story of Harry Potter and his adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry remains popular to this day, so there's a lot of attention being paid to this series. Rowling gave fans a big tease when she shared on Twitter/X that she had "read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series." Her verdict? "They are SO, SO, SO GOOD!"
Rowling confirmed that although she isn't writing the episodes herself, she has "worked closely with the extremely talented writers." That's not surprising; HBO executive Casey Bloys has said that Rowling is "very involved" with the process, although he also reassured nervous fans that the show is not "not secretly being infused with anything," a reference to Rowling's well-documented history of opposition to trans rights, an obsession that has led to her publicly feuding with actors from the movies, divided fan communities and even engaged in some light Holocaust denial, which I think is the weirdest low point in this saga so far.
With all that context, you might expect people in the replies to Rowling's newest post to have a bone to pick with her, and they do, but it's not the bone you're thinking of. Looking at the replies, I was surprised to see the majority of them, for pages and pages, are all people mad that HBO has cast Black actor Paapa Essiedu in the role of Harry Potter's cruel Potions Master, Severus Snape.
Snape was played by white actor Alan Rickman in the movies. I knew that fans were upset that a Black actor had been cast in the part, but I didn't expect the issue to dominate the responses so thoroughly. Some examples:
- "Great. Now please for the love of all that is holy, tell HBO that black snape is a terrible idea and will ruin the show"
- "It’s DOA with black Snape. Condolences"
- "Eh, I was interested until the Snape casting. Now I’ll pass."
- "Doesn’t matter, you already lost 50% of potential viewership by casting a black snape"
- "Too bad the cast is trash. You did Professor Snape dirty. Hard pass on anything that does woke race swaps."
- "Great now tell them to stop being woke and have a pale actor for Snape"
- "Huge Harry Potter fan and was looking forward to this series until they changed Snape into someone he is not."
- "Please find a pale, big-nosed Englishman to play Snape. Switching him to a black man would totally wreck the arcs of many characters and dismantle the beauty of his character"
- "No black Snape, I love you, but sorry. No"
- "I am not happy with Snape choice"
And on and on and on like that. Some people argue that turning Snape into a Black character will reframe his story in a way they don't like, others say it's an unacceptable change from the books, and others don't explain themselves; all we know is that a lot of Twitter people are very upset that Snape will be played by a Black man.
Paapa Essiedu is one of a few actors in the new show who have made clear they do not agree with Rowling's views on trans people. Responding to that flap, Rowling clarified that she doesn't "have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn’t exercise it if I did." But it seems like a lot of fans don't want Essiudu gone because he supports trans rights; they want him gone because he's Black.
Speaking as someone who has read the books and watched the movies, I don't understand the idea that Snape's race is so integral to the character that to change it is render the show unwatchable. I expect it'll be fine. But I also expect to hear a lot more about these kinds of backlashes as filming and promotion for the show get going. Strap in.
There hasn't been a release date set yet for the Harry Potter show, but it'd expect it out on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2027.
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