Audiences already seem to have lost interest in the upcoming Harry Potter HBO series reboot. One main concern laid bare by critics is that the reboot feels largely the same and, therefore, predictable. Yes, they made Snape Black so I suppose ten points for that? But whether that adds depth is debatable.
One critic, who goes by walton_wisdom on Instagram, pointed out everything that is problematic with choosing Snape, of all characters, for this shift.
"The more I think about the casting decision to make Snape black in the new Harry Potter series, the more I realise there is no way they thought this through. Like, let's just think about some of the scenes that happened in the movies involving Snape," Walton begins.
"In the fifth movie, Order of the Phoenix, Harry sees a memory of his dad bullying Snape and literally hanging him from a tree. So if they want to create this, they're gonna have to hang a black man from a tree," he notes in the video.
"In the first movie, The Sorcerer's Stone, Harry believes that Snape is trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone for himself. He's basically like the only black guy in the series, at least a part of the main cast. So Harry's gonna think the only black guy is trying to steal something."
"In the third movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban, they go to this wardrobe and they're basically facing their biggest fears. And Neville Longbottom's biggest fear is Snape. So now his biggest fear will be a big black guy. The only black guy pretty much in the school is going to be his biggest fear."
His argument holds weight. Changing that dynamic without adjusting the story could lead to unintended meanings. The concern isn’t representation itself, but whether it’s being handled with enough thought.
Another concern is the predictability. Changing ethnicity of a character alone isn't enough to make a story feel new or worth a watch. This was my concern when The Little Mermaid was released in 2023. I knew what to expect and it lost me there. The cinematography didn't do it justice either nor did Halle Bailey's acting help connected with her... or maybe that’s just me, but the ratings also didn’t suggest otherwise.
Despite a strong opening, the film saw mixed reception andgrossed around $569 million worldwide—solid, but underwhelming given its massive budget and Disney’s usual remake standards.
If Hollywood could give us something as inventive as Maleficent, which challenged the age-old perspective that the fairy was simply evil, it could have had a better spin on The Little Mermaid and the Harry Potter reboot.
Now, on the contrary, AI remixes of Harry Potterare sparking more interest online. Shortly after the trailer landed for the upcoming Harry Potter series last weekend, chaotic, remix-driven AI content flooded the internet, and now ironically generating more excitement because they're novel, absurd, and unconstrained.
My personal favourite is "Harry Potter but AI makes it drippy." In it, the new Ron enters the shared cabin with a young Harry and recognises him from the rumours. The drippy remake, however, makes the exchange instantly catchy with Gen-Z-coded humour—unlike the traditional reboot that only modernised the era but all else remained the same.
"Are you really Harry Potter, my G?" the AI-manipulated Ron asks young Harry. "Type Shit," Harry replies, with the other young wizards nodding in agreement.
Ron moves in for a fist bump, but this version of Harry is all business, fixated on reaching the School of Drip, en route via the Maybach Express, driven by an over-caffeinated yet effortlessly cool Dobby.
Another remake I’ve had on loop the past few days shows Harry, Ron, and Hermione entering the School of Drip, greeted by Dumbledore and a Black Snape.
“Is that Harry Potter?!” Dumbledore yells, dressed in an LV-printed robe with a gold gun. “They say you are the boy who dripped. Are you not, broski?”
“Type shit, sir!” Harry responds, with Ron and Hermione echoing him.
“Type shit indeed!” Dumbledore declares before Snape is introduced. The senior wizards greet each other with an exaggerated, stylised handshake—something straight out of Gen-Z internet culture.
The houses are no less “drippy,” and even the Sorting Hat has attitude, though it hasn’t arrived yet as Dobby is still driving it in.
“We need a full-length movie of this,” says not just me but just another fan from the comments.
"Already better than the HBO reboot," a second person wrote.
Some praised the details layered into the background, like the sorting hat wearing a gold necklace that reads, "No CAPS." One viewer pointed out Harry’s necklace, which read, “0 parentz.”
“Dark af,” the person noted.
These remixes aren’t limited to the drippy aesthetic. Other AI versions push entirely different angles, like Harry being famous not for his scar, but for Balenciaga.
"Didn't you ever wonder where your mum and dad got their outfits from? a fashion-literate Hagrid asks. "You're a Balenciaga, Harry."
The train scene reappears, reworked again. “So, is it true? That you really have the… Balenciaga?” asks a sleek-looking Ron, who is later mocked by Draco for wearing H&M in the remix.
We even get a dramatic reveal of the “Balenciaga.” At this point, I’m losing my mind.
And there’s more. Another version opens with, “POV: Hagrid actually runs a trap house off campus.”
“You’re telling me Hagrid’s real name is Bagrid? That he has a mansion I don’t know about? And that little cottage is just a trap house?” Harry asks Snape during a walk through the Forbidden Forest.
“Welcome to my crib,” says a bare-chested Bagrid, rocking a fur coat, sunglasses, and chunky gold chains.
"Holy s*** Bagrid! How much f****** cheese are you moving? I didn't know you had a f****** mansion!" Harry exclaims, stepping inside and finding Bagrid later sniffing what appears to be cocaine. The rest unfolds just as wildly.
There are countless other spins: athletics-themed versions, barn-core edits, an Istanbul edition, rap-video reinterpretations of Snape, and more.
While the HBO reboot is slated to premiere on Christmas Day, December 25, 2026, I'm only waiting on more Harry Potter AI remakes. Until then, we have these.
More versions keep surfacing daily.