It is official! The upcoming HBO Harry Potter reboot has its first official cast member.
However, it is safe to say that fans are unhappy about it.
Take a trip down memory lane with the trailer for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone below!
Announced on Friday, Deadline revealed that British actor Paapa Essiedu would be taking on the role of Severus Snape in the upcoming HBO adaptation of the Harry Potter movies.
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Replacing the late Alan Rickman, Essiedu, who is best known for his roles in Gangs of London and I May Destroy You, will be donning the black cape and taking on the role of the morally ambiguous Hogwarts professor.
However, since the announcement, fans have taken to social media to share their reservations about the casting.
To not feed the loser bigots, we will not be talking about the racist backlash that this casting has fueled, but instead some of the genuine issues that fans have expressed.
This includes Essiedu being far too handsome to take on the role of a character who is described as having “greasy hair” and a “hook nose” which contributes to the chip he carries on his shoulder, as well as the bullying issue.
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In the Harry Potter book series, which the HBO adaptation will faithfully follow, James Potter and his fellow Marauders routinely bully Snape during their time as students at Hogwarts.
Now, of course, this will have very heavy connotations going forward.
Over on Reddit, user NefariousnessShort36 summed up the concerns.
“Consider the optics of James Potter bullying the (presumably) only Black student in Hogwarts,” they wrote.
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“Or the titular protagonist being convinced that the only Black professor is 'up to no good', and said protagonist then ends up becoming a cop.
Sure, colorblind casting is great, and diversity is good, but at face value, the other two points might be a little hard to translate well without social media backlash.”
It remains to be seen how Warner Bros. and HBO will address these legitimate concerns but with filming for the show expected to start soon, fans are starting to lose hope already.
Topics: Harry Potter, TV And Film, Warner Bros