Alan Rickman’s Snape Getting A Prequel Movie?
A new rumor says a prequel for Alan Rickman's Severus Snape is finally in the works.
This article is more than 2 years old
Fans have no shortage of ideas for more stories in the Wizarding World. By far, the most often discussed is a prequel series for Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape. In the last Harry Potter book, there was that scene. The scene where we finally get a glimpse inside Snape’s mind and see the motives behind his behavior for the entire series. This is where fans are split, of course. For some, it made Severus Snape the most lovable character of all time. The way he pined for Lily Evans (Harry’s mother) forgave all manner of sins in their eyes. Others felt that nothing could ever forgive the things he had done. While feelings were complicated, few would deny that his character was interesting. So is the studio finally interested in pursuing a prequel for their most interesting character?
According to insider Daniel Richtman, a prequel for Severus Snape is now in the works. The insider doesn’t give us much more to go on than that, but it’s interesting that he says the studios are now talking about it. A story involving Alan Rickman’s character in his younger years, meeting up with the marauders, is something fans would want to see. Fanart has built up online over the years exploring this idea. Reactions to the Fantastic Beasts films were often along the lines of, “Okay, but why can’t we have a prequel with Severus?”.
The idea is often discussed at comic-cons. In 2019, Kit Harrington was asked about the idea. Harrington, who played Jon Snow on Game of Thrones, is a big Harry Potter fan. The actor himself is a Gryffindor. He says Jon Snow is a Hufflepuff, which makes sense. Snow is loyal above everything else. These conversations naturally led into the audience asking if he’d be up for playing a young Alan Rickman. Harrington answered without hesitation. If offered the role, he would definitely play a young Severus Snape. However, he felt he’d be a better fit for Sirius.
That judgment may be based on his hair. Kit Harrington’s messy curls seem more fitting for Sirius than Severus. That being said, Kit Harrington is currently 34 years old. If a Snape prequel is in the works, and if it is going to show the marauders in their prime years, they’ll need younger talent. It’s likely they’ll find unknown names, as they did with the original Harry Potter films. In the eighth movie, when we saw inside Alan Rickman’s mind, they cast multiple unknown actors to play different versions of him through the years.
In January 2016, Alan Rickman passed away. While it’s unlikely that a prequel with Snape would have cast Alan Rickman due to his age, there was still the opportunity for him to possibly have a cameo in a movie like that. Of course, there’s room for questioning whether he would have wanted to. Rickman was in a lot of projects over the years, including Galaxy Quest and Die Hard. It’s not uncommon for actors in major franchises to get weary of playing the same character repeatedly or dealing with the stresses of a fandom.
That being said, the love fans have for Severus Snape is unrelenting. In mid-2016, a 25-minute fan-made movie titled Severus Snape and the Marauders was released on YouTube. At the 11-minute mark, you can see Snape fighting the marauders and more impressive visual effects than you’d likely expect.
With such a strong fandom surrounding the story of Severus Snape, a prequel surrounding his character would definitely require some bravery. Fan expectations around this would be strong. If Richtman is right and the studio is working on this, they’ll have to expect a lot of fan letters with strong opinions coming their way.
