Meryl Streep Roars: Gerwig's Narnia Trailer Debuts Aslan and the Witch

By Daniel Okafor

Netflix unveiled the first trailer for Greta Gerwig's "The Magician's Nephew" on Tuesday, and it opens with Daniel Craig handing children a magical ring. The film reaches cinemas on Feb. 12, 2027, then lands on Netflix on April 2. That makes it the streamer's first movie to receive a global theatrical release — a fact worth sitting with.

The trailer, scored to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," introduces Digory and Polly, the two children who first discover the "Wood between the Worlds." Craig plays Andrew Ketterley, the titular magician, who muses that "sometimes one story is the beginning of all the others" before sending the kids into assorted fantastical lands.

The footage also reveals Emma Mackey's Jadis — the future White Witch and last Queen of Charn — plus Fledge, a talking, flying horse. And then there's the lion. Aslan is voiced by Meryl Streep, who sings Narnia into being after Ketterley asks: "Have you ever seen a world born?"

How did Gerwig land the job?

Netflix acquired the rights to "The Chronicles of Narnia" property in 2018, a year before releasing Gerwig's husband Noah Baumbach's "Marriage Story." Gerwig made her move at a party.

"I made a beeline for Ted Sarandos at a cocktail party and said, 'I really think you should start with The Magician's Nephew,'" Gerwig said. "About 20 minutes later he said, 'Do you want to write it?' At that point, I had only made 'Lady Bird' and 'Little Women.' I hadn't done 'Barbie' yet."

She told the CEO her one condition, essentially. "I told Ted I only know how to make movies for the big screen," Gerwig said. "He said, 'Make the movie for the biggest screen and trust the process.'"

Who are the children?

Gerwig cast newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell after sifting through thousands of taped auditions over several months. She found her answer in a screen test.

"There was a moment when Bea sniffled and David gestured off camera to get her a Kleenex," Gerwig said. "I thought, 'Oh, these kids are already taking care of each other.'"

The youngsters, it turns out, weren't much awed by their co-stars. "We were doing rehearsals, and Daniel Craig said to the kids, 'I'm a bit nervous,' just to be nice," Gerwig recalled. "And they said, 'Don't worry, Greta is really nice. You'll be fine!'"

Why Led Zeppelin?

Gerwig has described Narnia as "a world made out of music" and wants the film to feel like a "rock opera" (a rock musical staged with operatic scale). Songs were central, so she wrote to Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page and let them watch an early cut.

"It's an epic song, and narratively, about a spiritual journey, a path of fake idols and wrong roads you can go down," Gerwig said of "Stairway to Heaven." "It made sense to introduce the world. They saw the heart and story of the film."

Ahead of the trailer launch, Netflix hosted a press preview at New York's AMC Lincoln Square, where Stephen Colbert interviewed Gerwig about adapting the C.S. Lewis novel and populating the world with Streep, Craig, Carey Mulligan and Ciarán Hinds.

"I don't remember a time I didn't know the books," Gerwig said. "I wouldn't be who I am without these books."

This is Gerwig's first feature since 2023's "Barbie." Her ambition for audiences is characteristically direct: "I hope they laugh. I hope they cry. I hope they feel like they've been on an adventure. I hope when they leave the theater, they want to make something… a song, a cake… creating is an act of hope."

Whether a century-old Lewis prequel can become Netflix's theatrical landmark is the question Feb. 12, 2027 will answer.