Severus Snape Cast in HBO Harry Potter Series
The new Harry Potter HBO show has found its Severus Snape, and he’s not what you were expecting… or, depending on how cynical (which now means “realistic”) you are, exactly what you were expecting. The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reveals that Paapa Essiedu has been offered the role of the Hogwarts Professor of Potions in the upcoming series, another adaptation of the series of novels by J.K. Rowling. Severus Snape was played by the legendary Alan Rickman (who’s due to ring in the Christmas Season by falling from Nakatomi Tower on TV screens across the world soon) in the movies, and as far as I can tell, he was very well-liked by Harry Potter fans, partly because he closely resembles drawings of the character prior to the films (an example of which you can see below) and partly because he’s Alan Rickman. Any actor taking on the role has some mighty big shoes to fill, in other words. Essiedu has appeared in the TV series Gangs of London and the remake of Murder on the Orient Express, as well as the BBC miniseries Anne Boleyn. THR also says that Mark Rylance is “close to being signed” to play Albus Dumbledore.
So, they race-swapped Severus Snape. Everyone knew it was coming, but it still smacks of dishonesty, considering how this show was sold to the audience from the moment it was announced. HBO’s initial X post said the Harry Potter series would be “a faithful adaptation of the iconic books,” with J.K. Rowling on board as an executive producer to help maintain fidelity to the novels. (Although, as a collector fond of blabbering once pointed out, Rowling was on board with changing Hermione Granger’s race in the sequel play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.) However, there have been signs recently that some “modern audience” changes would be made to the novels, such as a casting call declaring that Warner Bros. was “committed to inclusive, diverse casting” and that any sex, ethnicity, or anything else could audition for any role. (What are the odds that Harry is a girl now?) Is this only the first of many changes to the Harry Potter characters? My guess would be yes, although Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies, Ready Player One, Dunkirk, Blitz) is a much more traditional Dumbledore, so I guess they’re going to keep at least a few characters close to their literary descriptions.
But let’s be real: this is being done to make a point. I don’t know if Paapa Essiedu is a good actor (I saw one episode of Gangs of London and didn’t care for it), and while we’re about to be inundated with social media users claiming to be huge fans of his and acting incredulous to anyone who’s never heard of him, he is relatively unknown. But it’s extremely revealing that the first casting announcement for the Harry Potter show is a race swap; it’s almost like they’re signaling that this is the way they’re going with this new interpretation. It’s also amusing that Paapa Essiedu starred in that Anne Boleyn miniseries – the one that presented a historical British monarch as a black woman. (He played her brother, George.) Harry Potter is relatively new as a piece of literature, but it’s become a huge part of Western culture in that time, and much like portraying Anne Boleyn as a non-European race, I believe this is an attempt to “correct” the history and culture of the West. Remember when everyone thought Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was a cold, hard-line businessman who was going to stop the woke nonsense and focus on profits? Turns out he was not the hero Gotham deserved after all.
Let us know what you think of Paapa Essiedu playing Severus Snape on the Harry Potter show in the comments!
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Comments (3)
Getting Dr. Who vibes from this. I don’t care much though. Just won’t watch. Also, the show EVIL that I liked had a black lead, so I really don’t know what will hook me when it comes to a show. This is one of those situations though, where it’s a slap in the face and an art from of Kalergi or The Great Replacement, so then, when I don’t watch, the showrunners call the fans racist.
Have you ever notice how they are the ones setting the conditions to call you racist? Like, if they lay you off or replace you and you move on, they claim racism. It’s how it’s always been, even before I was born. The word does not mean much anymore. The real racism is on their end.
Yeah, it’s a weird tactic. You’re required to love whatever they do. They’ve thrown “the customer is always right” out the window because they’re a bunch of self-righteous activists who think the world owes them money and adulation.
I’m not into Harry Potter, so I wasn’t going to watch this anyway, but the way they went about this is jarring. It was like a middle finger to one of the biggest fandoms in the world right off the bat, like they’re going out of their way to piss off fans.
The entertainment class keeps sinking. Time for others to produce content that is more fun.