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Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ Reboot Just Revealed a Wildly Different Aslan, and Fans Have Feelings

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Fantasy adaptations live or die by how faithfully — or how boldly — they reinterpret material readers have carried with them for decades. Few franchises carry quite as much symbolic weight as C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, where a single lion has represented far more than just a talking animal for generations of readers.

That weight has made every detail of Netflix’s upcoming Narnia reboot feel like it carries outsized stakes, especially once casting rumors began circulating about who would give voice to the franchise’s most sacred character. Months of speculation have now given way to an official reveal that is already dividing fans online.

Empire Magazine has unveiled the first official look at Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,’ confirming Meryl Streep as the voice behind the iconic lion and showing the character in the act of creating the world of Narnia itself. The film is set to open in theaters worldwide on February 12, 2027.

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The image, which appears on an exclusive Empire subscriber cover created by concept artist Jaime Jones, depicts Aslan staring directly into the camera with strikingly mismatched eyes, one blue and one brown, set against a luminous burst of light breaking through rocky terrain. A separate newsstand cover, on sale September 24, offers an even closer look at the character’s redesigned face.

Aslan’s new appearance marks a significant departure from Liam Neeson’s more traditionally lion-like portrayal in the 2000s Disney and Fox adaptations. According to Empire, the design features heterochromic eyes and a bold red stripe running down Aslan’s face, a deliberate visual nod to David Bowie, one of Gerwig’s key creative touchstones for what is being described as a “rock ‘n’ roll” take on the material.

That Bowie-inspired styling appears to extend beyond aesthetics alone, giving the character a theatrical, almost androgynous quality that sets this version apart from anything seen in previous Narnia adaptations. Combined with Streep’s casting, the choice signals just how far Gerwig is willing to push her interpretation of Lewis’s world.

Rumors that Streep was in talks for the role first surfaced back in April, and Netflix confirmed her involvement in the film’s cast list in May without specifying which character she would play. Aslan has long been interpreted by readers and scholars as a Christ allegory, making the decision to cast a woman in the role one of the more debated creative choices tied to the project.

Reactions to the reveal have split sharply, with some fans defending the casting as theologically reasonable, arguing a pre-incarnation lion figure would not necessarily need to carry fixed human traits like gender, while others have voiced frustration over reimagining a character so tightly bound to its traditional symbolism.

‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ is expected to be Netflix’s first film to premiere in theaters, and reports have suggested it will also rank among the streamer’s most expensive productions to date. Streep previously worked with Gerwig on 2019’s ‘Little Women,’ making this their second collaboration together.

What do you think of the new look for Aslan in Greta Gerwig's Narnia reboot?

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