Jason Isaacs Blasts Racist Outcry Over Paapa Essiedu’s Snape, but Is the Casting Debate Really Over?

Is Hogwarts ready for a new Potions Master — or is fandom stuck in the dungeons of the past? Jason Isaacs, forever immortal as the sneering Lucius Malfoy, has boldly waded into the controversy surrounding HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter reboot. And he didn’t mince words.

During a conversation with Collider at Fans Expo, Isaacs set the record straight in just five piercing sentences:

"Paapa Essiedu is one of the best actors I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve seen some people online who are being rude about him. What they’re being is racist. All the cast of the new ‘Harry Potter’ TV series are amazing. They will be swallowing their tongues, hopefully — you know, their digital tongues — when they see what [Paapa] does on screen."

Powerful, no? Yet not all Potterheads are lifting their wands in support. One Reddit user bluntly confessed:

"I can’t take the adaptation seriously… so much would have to be adjusted to accommodate the casting of Essiedu as Snape. Snape’s character is just so set in stone with his appearance AND how the story perceives him."

Another admitted they had "zero confidence" it could work, fearing the showrunners were sending "the wrong message" by reimagining Snape’s look without reworking the story itself.

At the same Fan Expo panel, a fan who witnessed Isaacs' remarks clarified in the same discussion on Reddit that it wasn’t a grand philosophical debate. Isaacs was asked if he had insider scoop on casting thanks to his old Harry Potter ties. He didn’t — but took the chance to champion the new actors anyway, calling out racism head-on.

However, as one fan pointed out clearly, "There has been a lot of racism about the ‘Black Snape’ casting, as racists will always find ways to be racist, but a lot of the vocal opposition to the casting has come from the Black community. Snape being Black absolutely does not bring about any good optics, if anyone knows the character and his background."

So who’s right — the protective traditionalists clinging to Snape’s iconic image, or Jason Isaacs, who champions Paapa Essiedu’s undeniable talent despite the backlash? This debate highlights the clash between preserving cherished memories and embracing fresh interpretations in beloved stories. Only time will tell if the new Harry Potter series can win over both camps.