Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Chronicles of Narnia has already started making headlines over its casting choices.
Criticized on social media by devoted fans for gender-swapping a major character, the first movie of the new series is set to hit the silver screen in 2026.
Greta Gerwig’s Narnia sparks fury over gender-swapping Aslan with Meryl Streep
Highlights
- Greta Gerwig's Narnia movies face backlash for being in talks with Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan, a male character.
- Fans sparked fury over gender-swapping Aslan, referencing the character's symbolic connection to Jesus Christ in C.S. Lewis's novels.
- Alongside the controversial casting, Charli XCX and Daniel Craig are in talks to join the new Narnia series.
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According to a recent report by Deadline, Hollywood legend Meryl Streep is in talks to voice Aslan in the new movie series. In C.S. Lewis’s original novels, Aslan is a talking male lion who is guarding the fictional realm of Narnia.
The character is also commonly considered by fans as an allegory for Jesus Christ, as he sacrifices himself for the sake of his people but is later resurrected.
Aslan was previously brought to life by Liam Neeson
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In the earlier adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia, which spanned a trilogy of films released from 2005 to 2010, the iconic character of Aslan was brought to life through the voice acting of Liam Neeson.
Neeson's voice lent a majestic and authoritative tone to Aslan, aligning with the character's king-like attitude as depicted by Lewis in his books.
The news led to a storm of negative reactions on social media, with one fan mentioning Disney’s Snow White disaster
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The movie series’s casting news led to a storm of reactions on social media, sparking fury among the series’s fanbase. While many fans praised Meryl Streep’s impeccable acting, they also underlined that Aslan is a male lion and should be portrayed as such.
“But Aslan is a male lion?” one fan wrote on X.
“Of course, we need a female Aslan. It would be crazy to just write a female character,” another person sarcastically added.
Another fan asked, “Why do they feel the need to gender-swap Aslan?”
One mentioned Disney’s Snow White, another Hollywood picture that was heavily criticized for its casting choices, saying, “Have you learned nothing from the Snow White disaster?”
Fans referenced Aslan’s Jesus Christ allegory in the comments
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“Aslan is literally a male lion. With all due respect to Meryl Streep’s acting abilities, there’s no conceivable reason to cast a female as Aslan unless it is to deliberately subvert C.S. Lewis,” one fan explained.
Another took a reference from Lewis’s book, saying, “Aslan is Jesus. Jesus was a man.”
“Aslan is a representation of Christ — he’s male. Hollywood truly despises Christians,” a third agreed.
One fan tagged Netflix’s X account, saying “@netflix this is nothing short of insane. Its an assault on the fan base.”
Charli XCX and Daniel Craig are reportedly in talks to star in the new movie series
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It was previously reported by Deadline that pop icon Charli XCX was in talks as one of the top choices for the role of Queen Jadis, the White Witch, which was played by Tilda Swinton in the previous film series.
Another possible name in talks to star in the movie series is the iconic James Bond actor Daniel Craig, though his role is not mentioned yet.
The Netflix CEO said Gerwig’s Narnia movies will be “bigger and bolder”
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Greta Gerwig is set to write and direct two Narnia movies. The first of the series will be released on Thanksgiving 2026 before eventually premiering on Netflix. The streaming platform announced in 2018 that it had purchased the rights to all seven books of the popular series.
In an interview with Time, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said Gerwig’s Narnia movies “won’t be counter to how the audience may have imagined those worlds, but it will be bigger and bolder than they thought.” Sarandos also described Gerwig’s world-building as “rooted in faith,” much like Lewis’ original material.
The film will be Gerwig’s first directorial work since Barbie, a comedy-fantasy hit starring Margot Robbie that earned over $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office in 2023.
Gerwig shared that she is interested in “embracing the paradox of the worlds” that C.S. Lewis created
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In the same interview, Gerwig shared her insights on C.S. Lewis’s creation of Narnia and his literary genius. Speaking to Time, Gerwig said, “It’s connected to the folklore and fairy stories of England, but it’s a combination of different traditions.
“As a child, you accept the whole thing—that you’re in this land of Narnia, there’s fauns, and then Father Christmas shows up. It doesn’t even occur to you that it’s not schematic.
“I’m interested in embracing the paradox of the worlds that Lewis created, because that’s what’s so compelling about them,” she added.
Online users were upset over the possibility of Meryl Streep voicing Aslan
