Greta Gerwig Chose Meryl Streep As Aslan For Her "Wisdom" and "Fresh Wonder"

Meryl Streep's casting as Aslan in Greta Gerwig's Narnia adaptation was obvious to the director. Talking to Empire, Gerwig said she "wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious" and "older than 70" to match the lion's wisdom. 

“I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness. Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight", said the director. "I wanted someone who was older than 70, so there was a wisdom of experience, but who also had the capacity of fresh wonder, like a child. And also to be one of the greatest actors to ever do it. That list is not a long one.”

Everything you need to know about Greta Gerwig's Narnia

Gerwig's film will adapt The Magician's Nephew, a book that narrates the events of the Narnia universe before Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy (the protagonists of the original film trilogy) were even born.

The plot follows the boy Gregory (newcomer David McKenna) and his neighbor Polly (Beatrice Campbell) as they enter a magical forest that leads to other worlds.

The cast of the production also includes Emma Mackey (Sex Education) as Jadis, the White Witch – a role played by Tilda Swinton in the previous films –, Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Denise Gough (Andor), and Daniel Craig (007). The film's theatrical release will also be sponsored by IMAX, meaning that giant screen theaters will have priority when showing Gerwig's film.

Narnia: The Magician's Nephew premieres on Netflix on April 2, 2027, but will spend almost two months in theaters beforehand.