It's important to remember the ongoing controversial statements by the creator of the Harry Potter franchise. CBR supports the hard work of industry professionals on properties fans know and love, and the wider world of Harry Potter that fans have adopted as their own. You can find CBR's continuing coverage on Rowling here.
The Harry Potter television reboot is reportedly going to make an effort to cast POC actors, creating a more racially diverse Hogwarts than the version seen in the films.
According to entertainment insider Jeff Sneider of The Hot Mic podcast, the recently announced TV adaptation of Harry Potter is making it a point to prioritize diversity this time around. Sneider reports that there is a "concerted effort" to cast "more people of color" in the series, which has ambitious plans to remake all seven books with a new cast. He also shared that "some Harry Potter writers" involved in the series could be POC as well. The original movies, as well as the books, have often been criticized for their lack of diversity and poor handling of non-white cultures.
Sneider specifically noted that Hermione Granger could potentially be played by an actor of color in the new series. This would be far from uncharted territory: it's a role which has been played by Olivier Award-winning Black actor Noma Dumezweni in the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on both the West End and Broadway.
Harry Potter Gets a TV Reboot
Warner Bros. Discovery officially announced that the reboot of the Harry Potter franchise on Max would be a faithful adaptation of the bestselling books made over the course of ten years. Per the official announcement, each season of the show will be "authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world." The announcement proved to be controversial, especially given the fact that many fans have turned away from the franchise following author J. K. Rowling's campaign against transgender rights.
Warner Bros. and HBO declined to address the issues surrounding Rowling's involvement in the series. "I don't think this is the forum," HBO chairman and CEO of content Casey Bloys said when asked about Rowling's anti-trans stance and if it would affect how the series -- for which the author is an executive producer -- is cast. "That's a very online conversation, very nuanced and complicated and not something we're going to get into," he added, saying that "our priority is what's on the screen." Many fans have also expressed concern that the inevitably young stars of the series will be exposed to the toxic discourse in which Rowling is currently engaged, as they will serve as the new faces of the franchise.
Source: The Hot Mic, via The Direct