Meryl Streep as Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia Has Fans Seeing Red

Greta Gerwig’s next directorial work will become a reimagining of C.S. Lewis’ literary cult classic, but still with a handful of pretty unexpected twists.

Announced several years ago, the first movie of the future franchise, based on Chronicles of Narnia book series, has been in the works for a while, with Gerwig eyeing the biggest stars for some of the leading roles.

The more recent news about the upcoming film revolved around possible participation of Daniel Craig and, surprisingly, Charli XCX who the director was considering for the roles of Uncle Andrew and The White Witch respectively.

However, another big star might be coming on board for Gerwig’s Narnia soon, and it’s not quite the best news for the original franchise’s fans.

Meryl Streep Is Being Eyed for Aslan the Great Lion’s Role in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia

Barbie ’s director might be up for some major changes in the original storyline as, according to Deadline’s latest report, Gerwig is strongly considering Meryl Streep for voicing Aslan, a talking lion who was Narnia’s guardian and a guide for Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie.

There’s no saying about Streep’s decision in regard to the offer since, reportedly, it hasn’t reached its final stage yet.

In the original movie series started back in 2005 with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Liam Neeson was the one to voice Aslan the Great Lion, which ultimately earned itself a spot in millions of fans’ hearts and is still considered a cult classic image on the character.

Narnia Fans Are Once Again Disturbed by Casting News

It hasn’t been long since the bombshell about Charli XCX’s possible casting went through, so it might be fair to say the original franchise’s long-standing fans were still recovering when another big update hit.

“No, really. Why? I'm a leftist, but why rob us of another example of positive masculinity? It's counter-productive even in its most charitable take. And that's before we remember that, uh... Aslan is JESUS. And has always been intended to be read as such”, KingMario05 wrote in a Reddit thread

The casting rumor may have caused one of the angriest responses to book adaptations ever.

“Narnia is a classic, and I feel like a more faithful adaption is appropriate and respectful to its legacy. Who does she think she is to change the most important character Lewis wrote? Does she think her vision is more important than that of one of the greatest fantasy authors?”, Redditor Electrical_Loquat885 said, slamming Gerwig for choosing to spoil the forever favorite with an additional message instead of writing a completely new movie specifically for it.

Other Redditors also chimed in, with some comparing the future reboot to 2025’s Snow White and others claiming that the director is “going for the lowest hanging fruit to score some white feminism points, what else is new”.

Greta Gerwig’s Narnia will be screened worldwide in Thanksgiving 2026 before moving to streaming on Netflix.