What’s unfortunate about fans no matter what the fandom there will be some who ruin it for everyone. A lot of people think that liking something means you can only like it one singular way. Not that an IP can expand upon or improve upon a franchise. Open mindedness gets thrown out the window. And let’s be real, it will be hard to fill Alan Rickman‘s shoes when it comes to portraying Severus Snape in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series. But that does not mean that you make death threats against the currently cast actor. There’s a reason that Paapa Essiedu was cast, he’s the right fit.
“The reality is that if I look at Instagram I will see somebody saying, ‘I’m going to come to your house and kill you.’ So while I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be murdered … that could age badly! But, yes, while I hope I’ll be OK, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job. Many people put their lives on the line in their work. I’m playing a wizard in Harry Potter. And I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t affect me emotionally.
But the abuse fuels me. And makes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid. I would imagine myself at Hogwarts on broomsticks, and the idea that a kid like me can see themselves represented in that world? That’s motivation to not be intimidated by someone saying they’d rather I died instead of doing work I’m going to be really proud of.”
Paapa Essiedu
Many people are quite pressed that HBO would cast a Black man as Snape. Paapa Essiedu was announced to have the role back in April of 2025 when a slew of other casting news for the series took place.
“I’ve been told, ‘Quit or I’ll murder you,’” he recalled of the targeted vitriol in a new interview with The Times U.K. He’s locked into this role for the next decade he’ll likely be dealing with these threats for a long time. This is the other side of fandom in which people don’t like to talk about.
On one hand, John Lithgow is being pushed against for his playing Dumbledore because JK Rowling herself is anti-trans. So that must mean that Lithgow agrees with her politics if he accepted the role right? Then you get the other side where fans are incredibly racist. They’re are upset that a Black man was cast in a role previously held by a white man.
HBO’s Harry Potter series will premiere sometime in 2027.
