Harry Potter's New Snape Actor Already Has One Advantage Over Alan Rickman's Version

Published Nov 14, 2026, 11:30 AM EST

Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.

Except for one actor, HBO’s Harry Potter TV show has a new cast, and the new Severus Snape actor already has one huge advantage over Alan Rickman’s version from the movies. The fantasy genre is going through an era in which some of the most popular franchises are coming back now as TV shows. Worlds like those of Percy Jackson and The Lord of the Rings have found more success on TV, and now joining them in December 2026 is Harry Potter.

As one of the most successful book series of all time and an equally successful movie series, the upcoming Harry Potter TV show is facing high expectations as well as some skepticism. Production of the Harry Potter TV show is planned to span a decade in order to adapt every novel in the most faithful way possible, and so season 1 is an adaptation of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

With the exception of Warwick Davis, who is reprising his role as Professor Filius Flitwick from the movie series, the Harry Potter TV show has a new cast, with both new talents and well-established actors. Now playing Severus Snape is Paapa Essiedu, who, unfortunately, has already faced a lot of backlash, but leaving that aside, he’s one of the most exciting casting choices for the show – and, even better, Essiedu already has one advantage over Alan Rickman’s Snape thanks to this adaptation’s format.

As The Books' Most Complex Figure, Snape Needed More Attention Than Harry Potter's Movies Could Give

Season 1 of HBO’s Harry Potter will explore Harry’s (Dominic McLaughlin) life with the Dursleys before he learns that he’s a wizard, his arrival at Hogwarts, meeting his new best friends Ron (Alastair Stout) and Hermione (Arabella Stanton), learning the truth about his parents’ death, and his first confrontation with Lord Voldemort. However, thanks to it being a TV show, Harry Potter will have a lot more time to explore the stories of other characters than the movies did.

The Harry Potter TV adaptation will show more of the Weasleys, Hermione's family, and the dynamic of the Malfoys, but it will also have more space to properly explore the character of Snape. Severus Snape is an antagonist throughout most of the Harry Potter saga, but those who read the novels know that Snape is one of the saga's most complex characters, something that the movies didn't show.

It's understandable that the Harry Potter movies didn’t properly explore the complexities of Snape, as they had a lot to cover and limited time to do so, but, at the same time, the movies completely forgot about the most important aspects of Snape, leaving him as just another antagonist. This made it easier for viewers to empathize with him and forgive him like Harry did when his real motivations were revealed in Deathly Hallows – Part 2, while readers had a difficult time accepting it, as they saw all the layers of the character, and some were truly dark.

Snape isn’t the hero the movies painted him to be, nor a victim (he definitely had a difficult upbringing, but he also continued that line of bullying and abuse with his students), and the HBO TV show is the perfect opportunity to finally do justice to the character’s portrayal outside the book pages.

A More In-Depth Snape Is One Of The Best Reasons To Remake Harry Potter

It can be argued that, even though 15 years have passed since the Harry Potter movie saga ended, it’s still soon for another Harry Potter adaptation – however, there are some good reasons to bring the books to life once again. Although Alan Rickman’s performance as Snape is one of the best things from the Harry Potter movies, fans of the books have been quite vocal about their dislike and disappointment with how the movies portrayed Snape.

The Harry Potter TV show is the best opportunity to make a proper and accurate adaptation of Snape, as the time constraints to explore every book and story are a lot less than those the movies had. Surely, those who only know Snape and the story of Harry Potter through the movies and not the books might be disappointed and confused over the differences between the TV show’s Snape and the one from the movies (this, of course, supposing the TV show does make a faithful adaptation of the character), but they will truly get to know him as he is.

The Harry Potter TV show can make up for many mistakes and missed opportunities from the movies, which definitely adds more pressure to it, but, at the same time, it makes it even more exciting.

Question 1 of 3

• 

  Dominic McLaughlin

  Harry Potter

• Arabella Stanton

  Hermione Granger

• Alastair Stout

  Ron Weasley

• 

  Janet McTeer

  Minerva McGonagall