{"id":564957,"date":"2026-03-26T05:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/564957\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T05:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:22:12","slug":"harry-potter-teaser-trolled-over-paapa-essiedu-casting-as-snape-say-adam-drivers-casting-wouldve-made-series-more-popular-than-game-of-thrones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/564957\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Harry Potter’ teaser TROLLED over Paapa Essiedu casting as Snape; say Adam Driver’s casting would’ve made series more popular than ‘Game Of Thrones’ |"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"'Harry The first teaser for the upcoming ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher\u2019s Stone’ has reignited controversy, with fans trolling the trailer over the casting of Paapa Essiedu as Professor Severus Snape.The backlash follows the reveal of Essiedu\u2019s first look as the Potions Professor, a character previously portrayed by late actor Alan Rickman in the film series. Some viewers took to social media to criticise the casting, with comments calling the casting “the worst downgrade” while others accused the show of attempting to be \u201cwoke.\u201d <\/p>\n

Watch<\/p>\n

HBO unveils first look of Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter in reboot ‘Harry Potter’ series SLAMMED for casting Paapa Essiedu as Snape<\/p>\n

Fans say other characters faithful to book except Snape<\/p>\n

At the same time, some fans argued that while other characters appeared visually faithful to their book and film adaptation, Snape\u2019s stood out as a misscast. \u201cOutside of that, Dumbledore, Hagrid and McGonagall genuinely look amazing,\u201d read one post, while another added, \u201cI\u2019m still not a fan at all of the Snape casting but ima still give it a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans root for Adam Driver’s casting<\/p>\n

The online chatter also had fans rooting for Adam Driver to be cast as the professor. \u201cHBO fumbled massively by not casting Adam Driver as Professor Snape,\u201d one comment read, while another claimed, \u201cIt\u2019s kinda crazy how if they had just cast Adam Driver this would have likely been HBO\u2019s most watched series since Game of Thrones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paapa Essiedu receiving death threats over Snape casting<\/p>\n

Am’id the controversy, Essiedu revealed he has faced severe online abuse, including death threats. Speaking to The Times, the actor said, \u201cI\u2019ve been told, \u2018Quit or I\u2019ll murder you.\u2019 It really matters. The reality is that if I look at Instagram, I will see somebody saying, \u2018I\u2019m going to come to your house and kill you.\u2019 While I hope I\u2019ll be okay, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job.\u201dHe added that while the backlash has been emotionally challenging, he has channelled it into his performance. \u201cI\u2019m playing a wizard in Harry Potter. And I\u2019d be lying if I said it doesn\u2019t affect me emotionally. The themes that run through Harry Potter are of love triumphing over hate, of acceptance. And that\u2019s why I\u2019m doing it.\u201d’Harry Potter’ Cas and release dateThe teaser, which introduces a brand new cast, led by Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, alongside Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. The ensemble also includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Bel Powley and Daniel Rigby as Petunia and Vernon Dursley and Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley.’Harry Potter and the Philosopher\u2019s Stone’ releases on Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first teaser for the upcoming ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher\u2019s Stone’ has reignited controversy, with fans trolling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[38318,64,63,134,16984,344,274598,278203,278204],"class_list":{"0":"post-564957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-adam-driver","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-harry-potter","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-paapa-essiedu","15":"tag-professor-severus-snape","16":"tag-snape-casting-controversy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}