HBO Max recently released the trailer for the new Harry Potter television show, set to air on Christmas 2026. Although some fans are excited, the majority of online conversation is focusing on the race-swap of one of the story’s prominent characters, Severus Snape. 

When the studio announced that Paapa Essiedu would play Snape, there was widespread public outcry over the choice, as he does not remotely resemble the character from either the books or the film adaptations. Before anything about the story could even be revealed, all anyone cared about was Snape. Many people aren’t even referring to him as Severus Snape; to most, he is simply just “Black Snape.” After the trailer was released, many started making fun of the way Snape looked, and even made a parody rap music video using AI to joke about the decision. 

The Harry Potter series will be adaptations of JK Rowling’s popular works, with each season covering one book. The show was promised to be much more scrupulous than the movies, but this casting choice flies in the face of that promise. 

The resistance to the change is not rooted in hatred; rather, fans simply want a sincere and accurate adaptation. After Alan Rickman became synonymous with the character in the film series, this change has felt like an even bigger slap in the face to fans. Many online have expressed their desire for the actor Adam Driver to take on the role, as he would fit it much better and closely resembles the character’s description. 

There is a larger issue with this casting than merely altering how the character appears; it will also fundamentally change the way the story is interpreted and perceived. This change will go beyond fan outrage and disappointment; it will drastically alter Snape’s character.  

JK Rowling described Snape as having pale “sallow skin,” greasy hair, and a British gloom in the books. Moreover, the majority of his storyline centered around Harry being suspicious of him. Meanwhile, Harry’s father, James, had relentlessly bullied Snape, mocking his appearance as a child, and at one point in the story, hanging him from a tree. Now, James Potter will look like a racist white boy. Snape was also a part of a supremacist gang that terrorized half-bloods and muggle-borns and frequently bullied children. Snape will now also be depicted as a black man coming from a broken home. 

Additionally, in another instance in the story, a character named Nevel Longbottom was forced to confront a boggart that took the form of his worst fear: Snape. In the current adaptation of Harry Potter, it now seems as if Nevel’s greatest fear is a black man. 

Although when questioned on the topic, JK Rowling has expressed her support for the show, stating:

“It’s going to be incredible. I’m so happy with it.”

However, there is a difference between meaningful and genuine representation and performative tokenism. There is a way to show positive representation, but race-swapping characters is not it. The way a character looks matters; it paints a picture of who they are and tells a story in and of itself, so it makes no sense to spend so much time and money building sets and designing costumes to look book-accurate if the characters don’t look right. 

Ultimately, appearances do matter, and it is not as though the actors are powerless pawns who can not stop these things from happening. The studios are pushing this narrative, but the actors can say no. In this case, there were several other interesting black characters in Harry Potter whom Paapa Essidu could have played, such as Kingsley Shacklebolt, a skilled Auror in the “Order of the Phoenix,” who later became Acting Minister for Magic. It is perfectly understandable why Essidu would accept the role, but that does not change the fact that he does not fit the character of Severus Snape, no matter how talented an actor he is. 

Paapa Essiedu has reported receiving death threats from angered fans, which is obviously unacceptable and a hysterical reaction to a show’s casting choices. However, it is not surprising, and the studios clearly saw it coming. The people who hired him intentionally threw Essiedu to the wolves and should have known better than to intentionally set up a man to be scorned and berated online for the sake of gaining diversity brownie points. 

Even other black people online have explained how they feel the decision is actually a disservice to black people. Many point out the hypocrisy and one-sidedness of it all. To change popular black characters like Black Panther or Blade into a white man would, and in some cases has, caused a public outcry, whereas when it happens to a popular white character, they expect fans not to care. But as some have rightly pointed out, if race-swapping isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things, then what is the point of making anything look like its source material? Why give Harry Potter glasses or Ron red hair if it actually does not matter that much? That is because it does, in fact, matter, as there would not be such an outcry if it didn’t.

This situation has become the show’s headline instead of the world or the story, and it was entirely predictable. Hollywood has been race-swapping beloved and established characters for years in an attempt to stir up controversy to sell their shows, rather than letting them stand based on their own merits. It is clear to most that studios do these things to get free publicity and essentially rage-bait their shows into going viral. But the coined phrase all press is good press does not necessarily ring true in the modern climate, as many shows and films have been boycotted over egregious race-swaps. 

Overall, race-swapping in any adaptation is a bad idea. Fans will naturally be upset about the change, and it is ultimately disrespectful to the source material and the creator of that property, who had their own original vision for the character. Some say that it does not matter what Snape looks like, as he is a fictional character. However, if it truly doesn’t matter what the race of the character is, then there is no reason to race-swap in the first place.