Greta Gerwig’s Narnia Prequel Drops First Trailer

Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, the first chronological entry in the beloved series, starring Daniel Craig, Carey Mulligan, and Meryl Streep ^[1]. The trailer, set to Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven, opens with magician Andrew Ketterley (Craig) handing a magic ring to children, launching them into the Wood Between Worlds—a realm of portals to other dimensions. The film follows Digory and Polly (David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell), who witness the creation of Narnia, with Jadis (Emma Mackey) appearing as the future White Witch.

Gerwig, whose Barbie earned $1bn, described her lifelong connection to the books, saying, "I don’t remember a time I didn’t know the books. I wouldn’t be who I am without these books" ^[1]. The film, budgeted at $280m, will have an eight-week theatrical run beginning 12 February 2027 before streaming on Netflix from 2 April. This marks a reversal for Netflix, which previously bypassed cinemas for major releases ^[2].

The choice of Stairway To Heaven was deliberate: Gerwig said it mirrored the film’s spiritual journey and dual paths of good and evil. She secured permission from Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, who approved after hearing the film’s themes ^[1]. The trailer features Aslan, voiced by Streep, appearing as a cosmic outline—silent but roared—prompting debate over casting a woman as the male lion in Lewis’s Christian allegory ^[2].

Gerwig, raised in a Unitarian Universalist household and attending a Catholic high school, has described faith as a thread in her work, though this claim has not been confirmed beyond her own statements ^[2]. The film is the first adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew, a prequel to the original Narnia series, and follows Lewis’s own suggestion to read it first. Netflix acquired the rights in 2018 after the previous trilogy was produced by Walden Media. The story was first reported by The Guardian and The Independent.