The first look at the new Harry Potter cast for reboot has landed, and the internet has immediately started doing what it does best: over-analysing every single detail and arguing about it in the comments.
HBO Max posted a photo of Dominic McLaughlin in character as Harry Potter, complete with round glasses and a lightning scar. The Instagram post said, “First-years, step forward. The HBO Original Harry Potter series is now in production.”
The comments were overwhelmingly positive about the casting choice for young Harry.
“Okay wait. This kid even looks like the cover art for the books more than Daniel [Radcliffe]. Good stuff,” one fan posted.
There’s a lot of love for the uniforms, the scar, and the glasses.
One user wrote, “Great uniforms, realistic scar, iconic glasses, let’s hope you keep the book accuracy up!😍 (sad about the green eyes though).”
So, yes, the green eyes discourse is alive and well. If you thought we’d moved on from that, think again.
Apparently, it’s not a proper Harry Potter adaptation unless someone’s crying about eye colour.
However, not everyone’s waving their wands in celebration. The reboot itself is already (unsurprisingly) being side-eyed. Controversy has schrouded the reboot as the book series creator, J.K. Rowling continues to spew transphobic hate online.
“If ya’ll wanna watch that god damn Harry Potter reboot so bad.. fucking pirate it AT LEAST. Fark mee,” one user suggested, in what we’ll call a passionate (if not exactly legal) plea for rebellion.
There’s also a strong contingent who’d rather be anywhere but here: “I can’t believe they’re going through with the Harry Potter reboot man it’s gonna be such a disaster and those poor kids.”
Other fans pointed out to the redundancy of the project and what could have been.
“The fact we could’ve had a Marauders series instead of an unnecessary Harry Potter reboot is my villain origin,” one person said, referring to an era of Harry Potter focusing on his dad, James Potter, and three best friends (Sirius, Lupin, and Wormtail) at Hogwarts.
Then there’s the Snape situation. Snape, Hogwarts’ potions master and all-round angsty man, is set to be played by British actor Paapa Essiedu.
This has sent some OG Harry Potter fans into a full spin, not just because Essiedu is Black, but because it’s introducing a race element to a bullying storyline between Snape and Harry.
Some are genuinely wrestling with how this casting choice might shift the story’s dynamics, while others are just in meltdown mode.
“This is fine, everything is fine except SNAPE!” and “Sad about Snape, the book is clear with the description of all the characters,” are just a taste of the drama.
Some are less subtle: “WHY IS SNAPE BLACK!!?!???????!!!!?” which, predictably, led to a whole other thread of people reminding everyone to calm down and maybe wait to see the performance before writing angry (and frankly racist) essays.
“Why are you SO angry about this? You haven’t even seen him act yet! Wait and see and then you will be able to judge,” replied one user, which feels like the voice of reason in a sea of all-caps chaos.
So, there you have it. The only thing more magical than Hogwarts is the internet’s ability to turn literally anything into a full-blown culture war, and this reboot is shaping up to be no exception.
Lead image: Instagram
