Disney Narnia Star Reacts To Netflix’s Bold New Movie After Record-Breaking Trailer

Published Oct 26, 2026, 9:03 PM EDT

Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. 

Netflix's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew trailer gets an official verdict from a star of the franchise's Disney-era movies.

Disney adapted The Chronicles of Narnia books The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader into feature films, which were respectively released in 2005, 2008, and 2010. The Magician's Nephew is now being adapted as a movie for the first time, with Greta Gerwig as the director and writer. The first trailer received a record-breaking 481.3 million views in its first seven days, while Gerwig's Barbie trailer got 240.3 million views during the same amount of time.

At Comic Con Brussels (via Steven De Vos), Anna Popplewell, who played Susan Pevensie in Disney's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, spoke about The Magician's Nephew after the trailer's release. She shared that "I think it looks really exciting. It looks very different from the world that we created in our adaptation and I think I would expect that from Greta Gerwig. She's such a wonderful director and writer, but it would be very surprising if she didn't have her own take on Narnia. The music is amazing . . . I can't wait to watch it."

In terms of the music, Popplewell is referencing Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" featured in The Magician's Nephew trailer, marking the first time that the song has ever been licensed for use on screen. The song choice, changing the story's time period to 1950s Britain instead of the early 1900s, and psychedelic visuals are among some of the Netflix movie's biggest changes from what audiences are used to reading and seeing when it comes to Narnia.

As indicated by Popplewell's reaction and the record-breaking trailer viewership, which also outperformed the likes of Wonka (237.2 million views) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (281.6 million views), there is a great deal of excitement and anticipation leading up to The Magician's Nephew. However, some of the bold creative changes have received a more critical response on social media, although this is not too surprising given the longevity and popularity of the fantasy franchise and Gerwig's unconventional new take on it.

While The Magician's Nephew is the sixth book in the C.S. Lewis series, it is the beginning of the in-universe timeline, serving as a prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and all sequels. The story follows young Digory Kirke (David McKenna) and Polly Plummer (Beatrice Campbell) as they travel through portals to other worlds. Along the way, they encounter Jadis (Emma Mackey) in the land known as Charn and witness the creation of Narnia itself. The cast also features Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan and Daniel Craig as Digory's uncle, Andrew Ketterley.

Rearrange the movies into the correct US release order.

Even though the movie is coming from Netflix, who famously releases its movies via streaming or first with a limited theatrical run, The Magician's Nephew will have a wide release in theaters starting on February 12. It will be available in standard and IMAX theaters for nearly two months before making its streaming debut on April 2.

While some of the online discourse pits Narnia: The Magician's Nephew against the franchise's Disney films, Popplewell has made it known that she is among those excited about the new movie before it arrives in theaters and on Netflix, acknowledging that Gerwig's vision is different rather than better or worse than what has come before.

Cast

• 

  David McKenna

  Digory Kirke

• Beatrice Campbell

  Polly Plummer

• 

  Jadis / The White Witch

• 

  Carey Mulligan

  Mabel Kirke