Narnia’s Steampunk Villain Origin Story Gets Its Magician: Daniel Craig Joins Emma Mackey in New First Looks

Every great fantasy saga needs an inciting spark, the reckless decision that sets an entire mythology in motion. For “The Chronicles of Narnia,” that spark has always been a bumbling, self-absorbed amateur sorcerer whose arrogance accidentally opens the door between worlds, and Netflix has just revealed who’s bringing him to life.

Following Empire’s earlier reveal of Meryl Streep’s radically redesigned Aslan and a first look at young stars David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell, the magazine has continued rolling out exclusive images from Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” throughout this week, each one offering a clearer picture of just how far this adaptation is straying from previous Narnia films.

Empire has revealed Emma Mackey as Jadis, the future White Witch and last Queen of Charn, showing her mid-scream amid a chaotic London street scene with an overturned car in the background. A day later, the magazine unveiled Daniel Craig as Uncle Andrew, the eccentric magician whose experiments with magical rings kick off the entire story, photographed inside a cluttered steampunk-style workshop filled with glowing scientific equipment.

Craig offered his own read on Uncle Andrew’s motivations in comments to Empire, resisting a simple villain-or-hero framing for the character. “I’d like to say that his intentions are good, but I’m not sure that they are,” Craig said. “It’s not to say that he’s cruel and mean and awful. He gets overexcited about what could be, and therefore overlooks the people around him and the consequences of what he’s doing.”

Emma Mackey as Jadis in Greta Gerwig’s ‘NARNIA’ film. (Source: https://t.co/1OQhhQv1cl) https://t.co/vIO7MS2UH1

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 18, 2026

Gerwig, who wrote and directed the film, offered a blunter assessment of the same character, describing him as “the stupidest magician in the world who actually made magic.” That contrast between Craig’s more sympathetic reading and Gerwig’s sharper judgment hints at a character who’s meant to be genuinely funny and exasperating rather than straightforwardly menacing.

EXCLUSIVE ✨ Daniel Craig is the magician of The Magician’s Nephew in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia. “He gets overexcited about what could be," Craig tells Empire of the scheming sorcerer, "and therefore overlooks the people around him.” READ MORE : https://t.co/QcD6ryJSAw https://t.co/przpZpSMJh

— Empire (@empiremagazine) September 18, 2026

The workshop imagery surrounding Craig, filled with spinning mechanical devices, glass orbs, and tangled wiring, points to a steampunk-inflected visual style for Uncle Andrew’s world, a notable departure from how the character has typically been portrayed in illustrations and prior adaptations. Combined with Mackey’s chaotic London street scene, the two new images suggest Gerwig is leaning into a much more stylized, theatrical version of the story’s early chapters than fans might expect.

First look at Emma Mackey as Jadis in Greta Gerwig's ‘NARNIA’.

(Source: https://t.co/Nr79jgETKU) pic.twitter.com/jnexXZjpGW

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 17, 2026

Craig and Mackey join a substantial ensemble that includes Carey Mulligan as Mabel Kirke, Ciarán Hinds, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough, Susan Wokoma, Tom Bonington, Ava Jager, Gerard Monaco, and Samantha Spiro. With Streep voicing Aslan and newcomers McKenna and Campbell leading the story as Digory and Polly, the film’s cast spans everything from Oscar winners to relative unknowns.

Directed and written entirely by Gerwig, with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt composing the score, “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” carries a reported $200 million budget. The film is set for IMAX previews beginning February 10, 2027, a wide theatrical release on February 12, and a Netflix streaming debut on April 2, marking the streamer’s first-ever film to receive a wide theatrical rollout.

Experience the creation of Narnia, as filmmaker Greta Gerwig brings to life C. S. Lewis’s beloved story The Magician’s Nephew for the first time. In theaters worldwide February 12, 2027 pic.twitter.com/LzkRw4qQaV

— Netflix (@netflix) September 16, 2026

Between Streep’s redesigned Aslan, Mackey’s chaotic introduction as Jadis, and now Craig’s steampunk-inflected Uncle Andrew, Empire’s rolling reveals have made clear that Gerwig’s Narnia is aiming for something visually and tonally distinct from anything the franchise has attempted before. With the film still five months from its IMAX debut, fans can likely expect more first looks before the full marketing campaign kicks into gear.

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