Images via Empire Online
Our first look at Greta Gerwig’s rock ‘n’ roll hit Narnia Adaptation is Here, a lot of ideas are thrown around the internet. In this article, we reveal the good, the bad, and everything in between
Chronicles of Narnia Written by C.S. Lewis is one of the best-loved fantasy series of all time. For millions, Narnia It proves to be a warm and welcoming world of imagination, one that brings comfort and warmth – and embodies Lewis’s belief that imagination has no limits. We’ve seen this sentiment creep into film adaptations over the years, from the BBC’s live-action TV series that ran from the late 1980s through the 1990s, to the iconic films that began with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in 2005. The next adaptation comes from Greta Gerwig, the director behind fan-favorite films like Barbie (2023) and Little women (2019). For a long time, it remained to be seen how Gerwig would incorporate her signature style into her design Narniabut in a recent preview from Empire Magazine, it’s clear that her unique creative lens has covered the project from the ground up, resulting in a glam rock-inspired take. Narnia Unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Greta Gerwig Narnia Outstanding from the start. Unlike previous adaptations that start with adapting the first published novel The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) Her vision begins with The magician’s nephew (1955), the penultimate novel published but the first chronologically. This creative move allows her to not only establish the creation of Narnia in the first film, but also provide an origin story for Jadis, also known as the White Witch, who begins the sequel as the villain.
Narnia: The wizard’s nephew However, it is not an enthusiastically faithful adaptation of the original novel. Perhaps most importantly of all, it changes the timeline by more than half a century, completely changing how the rest of the series develops. For example, when movies arrive The Lion, the Witch, and the WardrobeThe Pevensie children will not be World War II evacuees; Instead, their story will likely begin in the late 1990s to early 2000s, which inherently changes the way their story unfolds.
Of course, story adaptations are one thing, but Gerwig gives Narnia a visual makeover through her creative lens, a world away from the visual palette we’ve seen in other adaptations. “I wanted a rock opera,” she said. Empire Magazine. “I wanted it to be large and portable.”
Although this may sound like the film is a musical, it is not. However, it is a film that is heavily inspired by the music of the period that the timeline has shifted to. She explained: “David Bowie saved my life. Paul McCartney saved my life. David Gilmour saved my life. Pete Townshend saved my life. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant.” “When I heard their music, I had this deep feeling [thinking]”, “You’ll be fine.” And so this influence was heavily incorporated into the creation of Narnia. “Narnia is literally a world made of music. It is a world that Aslan sings to life, and it seemed to me that rock and roll is a world made of music.
How new? Narnia Looking for Greta Gerwig’s take on rock ‘n’ roll?
Our first look at Narnia: The wizard’s nephew It gives us a glimpse of Narnia as we’ve never seen it before – and by the way, it appears to be a preview not of Narnia, or even Earth, but of the world of Charn. The preview image shows Jadis (Emma Mackey) front and center, with David McKenna as Diggory Kirk and Beatrice Campbell as Polly Plummer alongside her.
The world of Charn has never been featured in any live-action adaptation of Narnia before. The world is the home of Jadis, who later becomes the White Witch of Narnia. When Digory and Polly arrived in Charn, it was a deserted and ruined city, glowing red from a deep red sun. Presumably this is the world we see in the first image above. How does it compare to the original novel? Below is an original illustration of Charn by Pauline Baynes.
Charn from “The Magician’s Nephew” | Illustrated by Pauline Baines
Jadis has a whole new style The magician’s nephew
As we can see in the first preview above, it’s impossible not to notice the disco-inspired glam rock dress that Jadis is wearing, which is a striking visual difference from Jadis as depicted by Pauline Baines, who at that point was dressed regally with a gold tiara. To date, this costume is the biggest and most striking example of the glam rock influence that Greta Gerwig instilled in the film.
Of course, we’ve already gotten a first look at her costume throughout production Several still shots have been releasedalthough it mainly features a stunt double in costume.
Jadis in “The Magician’s Nephew” | Illustrated by Pauline Baines
First look at Daniel Craig as Uncle Andrew Ketterly
Legendary James Bond Daniel Craig stars as wizard Uncle Andrew Ketterly in the film, a role narrated by Craig empire He is “the stupidest wizard in the world who actually made magic.” In the movie, his office has a Steampunk aesthetic. Compared to how he is described in the novel—tall, thin, with chunky gray hair—Craig seems almost perfect.
Uncle Andrew from “The Magician’s Nephew” | Illustrated by Pauline Baines
How does C.S. Lewis describe the creation of Narnia – and does it fit Greta Gerwig’s vision?
When the fans Narnia I first saw the preview image for NarniaThere was some backlash and hostility towards it. The overwhelming initial response was – and we’re paraphrasing – This is not the atmosphere we expected! Even in The magician’s nephewHow does C.S. Lewis himself describe the creation of Narnia? Well, we can divide its construction into two distinct phases: slow, quiet construction, and noisy construction.
Lewis’s description of Narnia’s creation begins with descriptions of “no words” and “barely even a melody,” which sounds more like a siren song, and is a contrast to Gerwig’s vision of rock and roll. This was stated in a passage taken from the novel, which you can read below:
“A voice began to sing. It was very far away and Diggory found it difficult to tell from which direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he thought it was emerging from the earth beneath them. Its undertones were deep enough to be the sound of the earth itself. There were no words. There was not even a tone. But it was, without comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful that he could not bear it.”
But then, as Narnia Life explodes, and Gerwig’s vision comes into its own. It can easily feel rock-inspired. Narnia entered its next stage of construction, and, as Lewis wrote: “Now the song changed again. It was more like what we should call a melody, but it was also wilder. It made you want to run and jump and climb.”
Reading this last excerpt, it is easy to imagine how the idea of creativity through 1960s and 1970s rock and roll, especially the glam scene, might fit into Narnia. It becomes a product of the era in which it is set. There’s an overwhelming sense that Gerwig draws the greatest inspiration from the imagination of David Bowie and Jim Henson A maze (1986). It’s a vibrant fantasy world built on enchanting rock music. However, many fans have argued that Narnia did not need to be altered or changed to fit this style and aesthetic, and that the intellectual property did not need this treatment. However, this vision has almost become the standard of fiction nowadays – look no further evil. This is not a criticism of the modern-day fantasy scene, but an observation of the style that attracts large audiences, the demographic in which Narnia will be targeted.
How did fans react to the first look? Narnia: The wizard’s nephew?
Naturally, countless people on social media shared their reactions to the first look Narnia: Some love it, others are skeptical, and some are not enthusiastic about the changes and tone. Here are some reactions from across the board.
As a Narnia fan for 21 years, this is a downgrade from the book and C.S. Lewis is rolling in his grave. Imagine if we had an exact book about Jadis instead of… whatever Greta Gerwig did. Its design in the book The Magician’s Nephew is very beautiful and does not need to be changed. https://t.co/0O3a9hVLp8 pic.twitter.com/BPhPKGejio
— Migs met Joseph Quinn X2 (@fredhechinger) September 17, 2026
Honestly, I’m looking into what you’re saying about making Narnia a rock opera. It’s unique. https://t.co/xB7WIPZHob
– Richard Newby (@RichardLNewby3) September 17, 2026
I’m not the biggest Narnia fan anyway (other than the original movie) but I had a bit of a “new” reaction to this one. I don’t care about Meryl Streep voicing Aslan at all, but the atmosphere here is very far from Narnia. https://t.co/gKrle2jJhx
— Jack | (@talshepard) September 17, 2026
Frankly a fantasy rock opera where the world is “made of music” and “sung to life” with rock and roll sounds like an interesting idea and potentially a slap in the face… but it’s not Narnia. This was never Narnia, even if you choose to ignore the Christian allegory. https://t.co/65QuLcFtGe
— Migs met Joseph Quinn X2 (@fredhechinger) September 17, 2026
If nothing else, we applaud Greta Gerwig’s ambition to see the next generation of Narnia. It remains to be seen whether it will reach viewers. Narnia: The wizard’s nephew It hits theaters on February 12, 2027 before streaming on Netflix on April 2, 2027.