Voldemort becoming, er, Voldemorta... doesn't carry controversial theological implications in the way the possible gender-swapping of Aslan does, but it still does my head in regardless

Seriously — hopefully it's just a rumour, but if there's anything in it (and there could be)... why can't certain modern-day directors just leave well enough alone instead of messing with the classics?? 

Unlike Aslan, there have been a tonne of different names rumoured for the Voldemort role (male and female) none of which seem to have credible sources (which unfortunately the Aslan story did) therefore it's hard to get too worked up about one hypothetical amongst many.

I would also note that Ralph Fiennes didn't show up as Voldemort till the fourth film (weird CGI blob-head man aside) so it's also not really surprising that they haven't cast Voldemort yet.

Therefore I don't really see that the two situations are all that comparable. Even if they do end up going with a female actress for Voldemort, the motivations for doing so will be completely different to that of Streep as Aslan, so it would be merely an amusing coincidence, but nothing we can really draw insight from.

Some buzz; definite controversy.

Coincidence? It's just what the companies tend to do now, to diversify cast, which is fine to a point until it changes and/or complicates the character and overall story too much. E.g. Snape casting – whilst I'm not too bothered about the actor change, it does create some, er, awkward scenarios further along the line in the Harry Potter story.

Obviously from other threads I have expressed that I do take issue with a Aslan gender alteration, whether it's just the voice or not. I'm not exactly overjoyed at the potential of a female Voldemort, either. I can see that Tilda Swinton could do that kind of role, but I think the change is so unnecessary. It's not like HP lacks for female characters. Right now I think a change to Aslan bothers me more.

@courtenay Voldemort becoming, er, Voldemorta... doesn't carry controversial theological implications in the way the possible gender-swapping of Aslan does, but it still does my head in regardless

Not to mention mine, as well. Messing with Voldemort might not carry quite the same theological weight as does messing with Aslan, but, unlike C.S. Lewis, JK Rowling, who invented the character, is very much alive, and has firm opinions about the biological difference between male and female, and where to draw the line. Nor would she be too afraid to speak up when and if it was necessary.

Besides, making Voldemort feminine would miss JKR's point in making that character masculine. Jadis, in MN, had eaten an Apple of Life, which conferred on her immortal life, but that was in Narnia, not in UK's London, or even in Charn, where her acquisition & use of the Deplorable Word killed that civilization. C.S.Lewis, like JK Rowling, had his own rules and regulations about "where to draw the line" for his supposal of Narnia. As Aslan pointed out to Digory, those apples, though healthy eating anyway, would not confer life in London's world, any more than did Jadis' use of the Deplorable Word to kill. JKR's magical world remained in UK, itself, as an unseen aspect of life within it, where it was possible to kill by using Avra Kedavra, the deadliest of the three Unforgiveable Curses, but where apples, like mushrooms, and the ingredients of Ron's corned beef sandwiches, could not just be conjured up just by using magic. Voldemort as a thoroughly evil character, also tried to become immortal, in his case by splitting his soul into seven horcruxes. For my explanation of what might be involved in making a horcrux try reading this Scribbulus essay: The Peasant, the Tramp and Hepzibah Smith: A Horcrux Case Study - The-Leaky-Cauldron.org The-Leaky-Cauldron.org

@icarus I would also note that Ralph Fiennes didn't show up as Voldemort till the fourth film (weird CGI blob-head man aside) so it's also not really surprising that they haven't cast Voldemort yet.

Quite so. Voldemort lives rent-free at the back of turban-wearing DADA teacher, Quirinus Quirrell's head in the first book. His mere presence in the same classroom as Harry Potter, gives Harry headaches. In the second book his diary horcrux is a phantom of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the schoolboy who killed his father & grandparents, as well as stealing the Peverell Ring from his maternal uncle, Morfin Gaunt, whom Voldemort framed for the murders. Voledemort (flight of death) is an anagram of Tom Riddle's full name. It isn't until the fourth book that a representation of Voldemort is necessary at all. If you start altering Voldemort's sex you have to do the same for Harry Potter, himself, as well. 

@courtenay Seriously — hopefully it's just a rumour, but if there's anything in it (and there could be)... why can't certain modern-day directors just leave well enough alone instead of messing with the classics?? 

And you are quite right. But has it been really confirmed that Aslan, whose CGI character need not be changed from masculine, is to be portrayed as a lioness, instead? 

@waggawerewolf27 Very good points about the implications of a gender-swapped Voldemort.

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

But has it been really confirmed that Aslan, whose CGI character need not be changed from masculine, is to be portrayed as a lioness, instead? 

No, not at all. But because it's been pretty much confirmed that Meryl Streep IS involved in Greta Gerwig's current Narnia project somehow, and because the original story about her playing the voice of Aslan was repeated, a few days after it originally broke, by a reasonably reputable Hollywood news website that claimed to have confirmation of it — although they never cited any sources of this information, and no further evidence has surfaced since then — a lot of Narnia fans seem to be taking it as a given that Aslan will be female, or at least have a female voice even if outwardly masculine.

I am still not taking that rumour as "gospel" until we DO get actual, definite confirmation of what Aslan will look like and sound like in this adaptation. For a start, even if I thought making Aslan a lioness, or a male lion voiced by a female actor, was a good idea — which I don't — Meryl Streep would not be on my list of likely voice actresses. Not because she isn't a brilliant voice actress — she is! — but because hers isn't the kind of voice I would imagine as coming from a huge, magnificent, powerful and indeed divine being, as Aslan (even regardless of gender) needs to be.

But we've already had more than enough indications that this movie is NOT going to be a close adaptation of the book that C.S. Lewis wrote (even if it still somehow manages to capture the spirit of the original story), for me to reckon that just about anything could be possible with it. Including, sadly, the Meryl-Streep-as-Aslan rumour that, even though it hasn't been officially confirmed yet, also hasn't been fully denied.

And there's one thing that I really can't understand, which I think I've mentioned before. Almost everything we've heard Greta Gerwig say about this project indicates she has a great love and reverence for the Narnia stories and their author. Almost everything we've seen or heard about the actual production so far indicates that it's not going to follow the original book closely. So what on earth does all this mean, anyway??

I guess we can only wait and see what the finished product is like, later this year...