Harry Potter Series Officially Casts Six Actors For Major Roles. Race-Swapped Snape Confirmed.

Warner Bros. Television has announced six actors cast for the new “Harry Potter” series coming to MAX. The pitch indicated that the new series would follow the book very closely, but already this is proving untrue with confirmation that Snape will be race-swapped.

The new “Harry Potter” series is being written by showrunner Francesca Gardiner. Gardiner is also an executive producer with director Mark Mylod. “Harry Potter” is a joint venture between Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television.

Who has been cast?

So far, the official castings include John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch.

Max has just confirmed the first 6 members of the casting of the new Harry Potter series.

• John Lithgow: Dumbledore

• Janet McTeer: McGonagall

• Papapa Essiedu: Snape

• Nick Frost: Hagrid

• Luke Thallon: Quirrell

• Paul Whitehouse: Filch pic.twitter.com/qKnePgT7te

— Daily Harry Potter (@TheDailyHPotter) April 14, 2025

This news is causing some issues in the fandom community because Severus Snape was very thoroughly described in the books. He was also hung from a tree while being bullied by Harry’s father. Making the character black and following the books faithfully seems like a contradiction to people.

Other characters could have been swapped out with less pushback as they were not described so, white.

We still do not yet know the casting of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley.

Showrunner Gardinier and director Mylod released a joint statement that said,

“We’re delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can’t wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life.”

Accusations of racism have already started.

With the race-swapped casting and backlash, the accusations of “racism” are being leveled against anyone critical of the decision. However, a lot of fans seem to agree that this wasn’t the best idea. Many argue that the bullying Snape received from James Potter makes this choice a terrible idea. Others argue that the allegory of racism is already in the books with “mudblood” being the derogatory term.

Others argue that the choice is another lazy race-swap instead of writing original characters for black actors. However, when it comes to “Harry Potter” they can’t exactly do that if they are following the books. It is a conundrum.

It’s a whole debate raging on social media right now. But the crux of the issue is the promise made by Warner Bros. to follow the books exactly. They set themselves up for these issues.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!