Photo: © Giles Laurent, gileslaurent.com / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped
In 2018, Netflix bought its way into Narnia. Announcing a multi-year deal with The C.S. Lewis Company to develop series and films from across the Narnia books (the first time one company had held the rights to all seven), then-content chief Ted Sarandos said: “Families have fallen in love with characters like Aslan and the entire world of Narnia, and we’re thrilled to be their home for years to come.”
Eight years later, those families are asking what Netflix did with Aslan.
The first film is “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,” written and directed by “Barbie” filmmaker Greta Gerwig. It opens in IMAX and theaters on February 12, 2027, and comes to Netflix on April 2, 2027, according to Netflix.
A New Voice for the Lion
The biggest change is Aslan himself. Meryl Streep is voicing the lion, Variety reported after Gerwig confirmed the casting in an Empire cover story. As the Associated Press notes, Aslan is considered a literary representation of Jesus Christ in Lewis’s books.
According to Variety, Gerwig told Empire she wanted an actor older than 70 with gravitas and a childlike sense of wonder. As of the AP’s October 4 report, she had not addressed the gender question directly in public statements.
Empire reports that Gerwig moved the story out of the novel’s early-1900s setting and into post-war 1950s Britain and drew on British rock of the ’60s and ’70s, from David Bowie to The Who.
At Netflix’s New York trailer event, Gerwig explained why the trailer uses Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” per Netflix: “It’s a narrative about a spiritual journey. It’s about the true path of enlightenment and spirituality, and the path of false idols and the wrong roads you can go down. I was like, ‘This is exactly the story of the movie.'”
Faithful Fans Push Back
The Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece by Spencer Klavan headlined “The Lion, the Witch and the Gender-Swap.” Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon asked on X: “Did anyone stop to ask, at any point, ‘What would C.S. Lewis think of what we’re doing with the world he created?'”
A petition asking Netflix to replace Gerwig on future Narnia films had passed 3,000 signatures by mid-October, Beliefnet reported. Its organizer, who moderates a Narnia fan group of more than 81,000 members, told The Christian Post that if the film strays too far from the book, the petition’s signers have promised not to see it in theaters or stream it.
Where Does the Estate Stand?
Netflix’s credits list Douglas Gresham, Lewis’s stepson, and Melvin Adams as executive producers for the C.S. Lewis Estate.
In September, Movieguide founder Ted Baehr told CBN News that family members were upset about the Aslan casting and worried it would hurt the brand, according to The Christian Post. Then the families of Lewis’s stepsons, David and Douglas Gresham, issued a statement through Netflix praising Gerwig’s passion for the books, NarniaWeb reported. The families also told NarniaWeb they had not yet seen any footage or heard any audio from the film.
Their praise was for Gerwig’s passion, not for a film they had seen.
A $250 Million Bet in a Bad Week
Variety calls Narnia “a $250 million theatrical-first gamble.”
Citing four sources, Variety also reported that former Netflix film chief Dan Lin fell out with Gerwig over the film on a Zoom call earlier this year and was taken off the project. Lin’s exit from Netflix was announced on October 19, the Los Angeles Times reported, and none of Variety’s sources tied his exit to Narnia.
Netflix also said last week it was laying off about 6% of its employees, and its shares fell about 6% in after-hours trading on October 20 after it cut its 2026 advertising revenue forecast and gave revenue guidance that disappointed Wall Street, CNBC reported.
Netflix Has Been Here Before
This isn’t Netflix’s first fight with parents. In October 2025, Elon Musk told his followers on X to “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids” amid an uproar over “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” a TV-Y7 cartoon whose lead, Barney, is a transgender teen. Netflix’s own Tudum site promoted that show in a March 2025 Trans Day of Visibility list, noting that Barney’s grandmother “won’t accept his transition.” Netflix still lists the show under “Kids” and “LGBTQ+ TV Shows” on its title page (viewed October 21, 2026).
Netflix’s Woke Broke List company report grades it F (74/100; latest report, viewed October 21, 2026).
The Choice Is Yours
Lewis wrote Narnia for children, and generations of families trusted it for that reason. Netflix owns the rights. Parents still hold the remote, and the wallet.
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