Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew Movie—Release Dates, Cast and Confirmed Book Changes

By Ahaqir Ishaq | Books of Brilliance
Updated: September 22, 2026

Greta Gerwig is taking audiences back to Narnia, but she is not beginning with the wardrobe.

Netflix’s new movie is officially titled Narnia: The Magics Nephew. It adapts C. S. Lewis’s 1955 novel about the creation of Narnia, the arrival of the White Witch and the magical journey that eventually leads to the famous wardrobe. The movie will also receive a much larger theatrical release than Netflix originally planned.

The first details already make it clear that Gerwig is not creating a scene-for-scene recreation of the book. The story has been moved from the beginning of the 20th century to the 1950s, Aslan has a striking new design inspired by David Bowie, and the movie’s visual approach draws from the energy of 1960s and 1970s British rock.

Here is everything officially confirmed about Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, including its IMAX, theatrical and Netflix release dates, its cast and the changes Gerwig has revealed.

When Does Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew Come Out?

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew has three important release dates:

• February 10, 2027: Exclusive IMAX sneak previews begin.
• February 12, 2027: The movie opens widely in theaters.
• April 2, 2027: The movie begins streaming on Netflix.

Netflix originally planned to release the film in IMAX around Thanksgiving 2026 before bringing it to the streaming service at Christmas. That plan has changed. The February 2027 date gives the movie a wide theatrical run and an exclusive cinema window of more than 45 days before its Netflix debut.

That is a significant release strategy for Netflix. The company has often placed its films in a limited number of theaters for a short period, but The Magician’s Nephew is being positioned as a major global theatrical event. Netflix is handling distribution in North America, while Sony Pictures Entertainment will distribute the film theatrically outside North America.

The official dates come directly from Netflix’s announcement, which also confirms that the February 12 release will include both IMAX and standard theaters.

What Is The Magician’s Nephew About?

The story follows two children, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, whose London homes are connected by an attic passage. Their exploration brings them into contact with Digory’s Uncle Andrew, an amateur magician who has created rings capable of carrying people between worlds.

After Uncle Andrew tricks Polly into touching one of the rings, Digory follows her. The children reach the Wood Between the Worlds, a quiet forest filled with pools that serve as doorways to other universes. Their journey takes them to the ruined world of Charn, where Digory awakens the powerful Queen Jadis.

Jadis eventually follows the children back to London before the group is carried into a new, empty world. There they witness Aslan sing Narnia into existence. The adventure explains several important pieces of Narnian history, including the origin of the White Witch, the first king and queen of Narnia, and the wardrobe that later transports Lucy Pevensie.

Although The Magician’s Nephew was the sixth Narnia book Lewis published, it is the first story in the series’ internal chronology. That makes it an unusual but logical starting point for Netflix’s new adaptation.

Who Is in the Cast?

Netflix has officially announced ten principal cast members. Some character assignments have also been revealed, while several roles remain undisclosed.

David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell lead the story as Digory and Polly, the two children whose curiosity begins the adventure. Emma Mackey plays Jadis, giving the Sex Education and Emily star the difficult task of reintroducing the villain famously played by Tilda Swinton in the earlier film series.

Daniel Craig plays Uncle Andrew, the vain, cowardly magician whose experiments with enchanted rings send Polly and Digory into the unknown. Carey Mulligan plays Digory’s seriously ill mother, Mabel, whose condition provides the emotional reason behind some of Digory’s most important choices.

Netflix’s official cast announcement did not attach characters to every actor. Reports have connected Kobna Holdbrook-Smith with Frank the cabby and Denise Gough with Digory’s aunt Letitia, but readers should treat unannounced character assignments cautiously until Netflix or the filmmakers confirm them.

Meryl Streep Is the Voice of Aslan

After months of speculation, Gerwig confirmed that Meryl Streep voices Aslan.

The casting immediately became one of the movie’s biggest talking points because Lewis consistently refers to Aslan as male in the books. Liam Neeson also gave Aslan a deep male voice in the three movies released between 2005 and 2010.

However, Streep’s casting does not yet confirm that the movie has rewritten Aslan as a female character. Entertainment Weekly reported that the character’s gender remains unclear, while Empire continued to refer to Aslan as “he.” For now, the accurate description is that Streep voices Aslan, not that Gerwig has officially changed Aslan’s gender.

Gerwig said she wanted an actor who could combine authority and emotional depth with joy and wonder. Streep previously worked with the director on Little Women, in which she played Aunt March.

Every Confirmed Change From the Book

Adaptations inevitably reshape their source material, but only a few of the changes to The Magician’s Nephew have been confirmed. These are the differences readers can discuss without relying on set-photo theories or online rumors.

1. The London Story Has Moved to the 1950s

The largest confirmed story change is the period.

Lewis begins the book when Sherlock Holmes still lives on Baker Street and long before the world wars. The events are generally placed around 1900. Gerwig’s movie instead takes place in 1950s England.

That shift changes more than the costumes and cars. It places Digory and Polly’s London after World War II, when Britain was rebuilding and popular culture was approaching a dramatic transformation. Gerwig has connected that setting to the British musicians who later created imaginative new worlds out of the difficulties of the postwar era.

Moving the story forward by roughly half a century could also affect the wider Narnia timeline. In the book, an elderly Professor Digory Kirke shelters the Pevensie children during World War II in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. If the young Digory now lives in the 1950s, a future adaptation of that story would need to take place much later than 1940 or explain the chronology another way.

Netflix has not announced how it will solve that question. Any claim that the Pevensies’ story has also been moved is currently speculation.

2. Aslan Has a David Bowie-Inspired Appearance

Aslan’s new design departs from the naturalistic golden lion seen in earlier Narnia movies. The first revealed image gives him eyes of different colors and a red marking across his face, details inspired by David Bowie.

The Bowie influence is especially visible in the red facial stripe, which recalls the musician’s glam-rock imagery. It signals that Gerwig’s Narnia will have a more heightened, cosmic style than previous screen adaptations.

This is a visual change rather than evidence of a rewritten personality. Aslan still creates Narnia through song, just as he does in Lewis’s novel.

3. Aslan Is Voiced by Meryl Streep

Streep’s performance is a confirmed departure from the way Aslan has traditionally sounded on screen. It is also a notable casting choice for a character written as male.

Still, the distinction matters: a woman voicing Aslan does not automatically mean Aslan has been rewritten as a woman. Until the movie, a trailer or Netflix’s materials explicitly settle that point, articles should not present a gender change as fact.

4. The Movie Has a Rock-Opera-Inspired Aesthetic

Gerwig has cited David Bowie, Paul McCartney, David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant as creative inspirations. She described the desired scale and feeling as similar to a “rock opera,” connecting that approach to Aslan singing a new world into existence.

That does not mean The Magician’s Nephew is a musical. No announcement says the characters will regularly break into songs. Instead, the rock influence appears to shape the movie’s imagery, energy and treatment of Narnia’s creation.

The score is being written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who previously collaborated with Gerwig on Barbie. George Drakoulias is supervising the music.

What Has Not Been Confirmed?

Several popular claims remain rumors or interpretations rather than established facts:

• Netflix has not confirmed that Aslan’s gender has changed.
• The movie has not been announced as a musical.
• No official source has revealed which book scenes have been removed or substantially rewritten.
• Netflix has not announced a trailer release date or the movie’s runtime.
• The studio has not confirmed which Narnia book Gerwig will adapt next.
• Several cast members’ characters remain officially undisclosed.

That distinction is important because early casting reports and location photos have produced many plausible theories. They may eventually prove correct, but they should not be described as confirmed changes yet.

Why Starting With The Magician’s Nephew Matters

Most viewers first entered Narnia through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The earlier film franchise began there as well, introducing the Pevensie children, Mr. Tumnus and the world under the White Witch’s rule.

Gerwig is choosing a different doorway. The Magician’s Nephew reveals Narnia at the moment of its birth and allows audiences to meet Jadis before she becomes the ruler readers know. It also turns familiar objects and characters into discoveries. Viewers can learn where the wardrobe came from, why a lamppost stands in the middle of a forest and how a London cabby became Narnia’s first king.

It is also a story about temptation, grief and the choices people make when offered power. Digory’s desire to save his mother gives the fantasy a deeply personal center. If the movie preserves that conflict, it could give Gerwig the combination of spectacle and intimate emotion that has defined much of her work.

Is This Connected to the Previous Narnia Movies?

No. Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is the beginning of a new Netflix adaptation and is not a prequel to the movies starring Tilda Swinton, Georgie Henley and William Moseley.

Netflix announced its agreement with the C. S. Lewis Company in 2018. Gerwig later came aboard to write and direct two Narnia films. The Magician’s Nephew is the first of those movies, but Netflix has not officially named the second book she will adapt.

The new film has its own cast, design and continuity. Emma Mackey’s Jadis and Meryl Streep’s Aslan should therefore be treated as new interpretations rather than younger or alternate versions of the performances in the previous trilogy.

Final Thoughts

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is already shaping up to be a bold return to C. S. Lewis’s world. Beginning with Narnia’s creation gives the new series room to establish its own identity, while the theatrical release suggests Netflix believes the movie can become a genuine fantasy event.

The decision to move the story to the 1950s will understandably invite questions from readers, especially because it alters the timeline connecting young Digory to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Bowie-inspired Aslan and rock-influenced aesthetic are equally daring choices. Yet Gerwig’s focus on music has a clear foundation in the book: Narnia begins when Aslan sings light, stars, plants and animals into being.

For now, the safest conclusion is that this will be a visually adventurous interpretation rather than a completely unrecognizable rewrite. The central characters, the creation story and the emotional importance of Digory’s mother all remain part of the movie. We will know much more when Netflix releases the first trailer.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew being released?

IMAX sneak previews begin February 10, 2027. The movie opens widely in theaters on February 12, 2027, and arrives on Netflix on April 2, 2027.

Who plays Aslan in The Magician’s Nephew?

Meryl Streep provides the voice of Aslan. Greta Gerwig officially confirmed her role in September 2026.

Who plays the White Witch?

Emma Mackey plays Jadis, the Queen of Charn who later becomes known as the White Witch.

Is Greta Gerwig’s Narnia movie a musical?

It has not been announced as a musical. Gerwig has described its aesthetic as rock-opera-inspired, and music is central to the creation of Narnia, but that is not the same as confirming a musical format.

Is the new Narnia movie connected to the 2005 film?

No. It is the beginning of a new Netflix adaptation with a new cast and continuity.

What period is The Magician’s Nephew movie set in?

The film is set in 1950s England. This is a confirmed change from the novel, which begins around the start of the 20th century.

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