The new Harry Potter trailer did more than flood J.K. Rowling’s replies — it kicked the meme machine back into gear. Just like in March, the jokes, fan-casts, and parody videos took over X within hours of the teaser dropping.
Rowling posted the trailer to her 13.7 million followers with three emojis: a heart, an owl, and a lightning bolt. The memes started under it and spread from there.
Fans Are Posting Their Own Snapes
The biggest trend is fan-casting the role out from under Paapa Essiedu. An AI image of Adam Driver in the black robes is making the rounds again, captioned: “Could have had the best casting of Snape right here. Oh well, into the trash it goes.”
While Adam Driver won’t be playing Snape, he has been cast in a big villain role as part of Marvel’s X-Men reboot as Mister Sinister.
Others followed with their picks. “Not complaining about the casting, but seeing that others are posting their dream Snapes, mine in this guy! Matthew Rhys,” posted one fan with a Photoshop of The Americans star under the black wig.
Plenty are just posting Alan Rickman. “That’s a no for me, dawg.. You didn’t think this through,” wrote one user over a side-by-side of Essiedu and Rickman’s Snape.
Another shared a Rickman “This displeases me” GIF with the message: “Nobody will ever replace Snape.”
One of the most-shared posts of the night, at 762 likes, splits the screen on Snape’s death scene: Rickman in 2011 saying “You got your mother’s eyes, Harry,” and below it a 2026 version with Essiedu and the line changed to “You got yo mama’s ass, Harry.”
Fake Casting Cards and a Race-Swapped Voldemort
The parody announcements are escalating, too. One post shares official-looking casting cards claiming Bella Ramsey is HBO’s Sirius Black and Elliot Page has been cast as Lord Voldemort. Neither is real — they’re mock-ups built to look like news graphics.
Another post, sitting at over 350 likes with no caption at all, puts Ralph Fiennes’ marble-white Voldemort next to an AI edit of a dark-skinned Voldemort.
“To more accurately represent the books,” reads another, over the old “American exchange student showing up to the Battle of Hogwarts about to change the whole dynamic” minigun meme.
And some are aiming the memes at Rowling herself. “This is what we wanted JK,” posted one account, sharing AI-generated anime versions of Harry, Hermione, Ron, Snape, and Voldemort in a Studio Ghibli style.
The “I’m Black Snape” Music Video Is Back
The fan-made “I’m Black Snape” music video that went viral during the first teaser wave in March is back in rotation, too, complete with its parental advisory cover art.
“The casting killed the series for me. I’ll stick to the books and the movies every Christmas season,” wrote one account resharing the video, in a post that picked up nearly 400 likes.
And the reply that keeps climbing under Rowling’s post isn’t a meme at all. It pairs photos of her own book pages — “Snape’s pale face,” “sallow skin had gone the colour of sour milk,” “marble white,” all underlined in red — with a message telling her the series will ruin the books she wrote.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone premieres this Christmas on HBO Max. Based on the last 24 hours, the memes will be waiting for it.
