
With release of the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald trailer, a long-held fan theory from the Harry Potter universe was confirmed. Nagini, Lord Voldemort’s serpentine sidekick, was once a witch.
(If were going to be technical about it, she’s a Maledictus – ie. she carries a blood curse, passed from mother to daughter, that turns a human into a beast… Which is almost certainly the nerdiest sentence ever written. But moving right along.)
Yet after the crows of “we knew it!” died down, some fans came to a rather disappointing realisation about the casting of the snake’s humanoid form.
The trailer revealed that Nagini is played by South Korean actor Claudia Kim, which some are arguing is problematic and even potentially racist.
See, when rumours first surfaced that the 33-year-old would have a role in the J.K. Rowling-scripted sequel, it was hailed as a major boon for the franchise and a step-forward for representation of Asian actors in Hollywood.
But now that we know she is essentially playing a white man’s pet… well…
