Netflix and Greta Gerwig are ready to see just how many Chronicles of Narnia fans they can anger with their latest bit of casting.
Per Deadline, Meryl Streep is in talks to voice Aslan the Great Lion in Gerwig’s Narnia reboot, which will reportedly adapt The Magician’s Nephew, the sixth novel in C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series. Lewis created the guardian of Narnia, who is the only character to appear in all seven novels, as an allegory for Jesus.
In the novels (and previous adaptations), Aslan has been portrayed as male. While Nexus Point News, who first reported Streep’s involvement in the reboot, claims Aslan will be female in the movie, Deadline has yet to have its sources confirm that gender detail. Liam Neeson voiced Aslan in Walden Media’s live-action Narnia trilogy released between 2005 and 2010.
What Is The Magician’s Nephew About?
Although published sixth in the series, The Magician’s Nephew chronologically takes place first, revealing the origin story of Narnia as well as how the White Witch and humans arrived in the world. The main children in the novel are Digorky Kirke and Polly Plummer, with the former being revealed to be the middle-aged professor who hosted the Pevensie children in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Daniel Craig and Charli XCX are also in talks for roles in the Narnia reboot, with the former offered the role of Uncle Andrew Ketterley and the latter the role of Jadis the White Witch. Both are the primary antagonists of The Magician’s Nephew.
Gerwig has been attached to write and direct at least two Narnia films since late 2022, with her involvement in Netflix’s reboot confirmed in July 2023, following the critical and commercial success of her last directorial effort, Warner Bros.’ Barbie.
Unlike most Netflix movies, Gerwig has successfully managed to secure a two-week IMAX global run in 90 countries across 1,000 auditoriums for her Narnia reboot in advance of the movie’s debut on the streaming service. The untitled Narnia movie will be released in IMAX on November 26, 2026, before streaming on Netflix beginning December 25, 2026.
Are you fine with Aslan being portrayed as female in the Narnia reboot or do you see this as an unnecessary gender-swap?
