I remember some years ago there was a controversial cover for an ebook of Anne of Green Gables. It portrayed the title character as a blonde. The mental image of Aslan as a lioness reminds me of that cover.  

Posted by: @impending-doom

What I really don’t support is the idea of review-bombing or actively rooting for a movie to fail before we even know what it is.

Well said, and I'm still bearing in mind that we have no confirmation either way of whether the "female Aslan" rumour is true or not, from anyone at all connected with the film project.

I think the main concern for me, as I've said already, is this lack of comment from those in charge. They really don't seem to know how to manage their PR, which is very surprising and unsettling.

I'll be using the contact info that NarniaWeb has provided to write a few letters / emails over the next few days and, along with setting out the basic reasons why casting Aslan as female (or female-voiced) is not a good idea, I will be writing with the acknowledgment that this is still only a rumour so far, and will ask them straight out for whatever clarification they can give on what is actually being done.

If enough of us ask for that — rather than just assuming the worst and spitting flames, however much we may be tempted — then hopefully, someone at Netflix will see the sense in making some kind of public statement about this.

Even if it IS confirmation of my and others' worst fear — that Aslan is definitely going to be portrayed as a Lioness — then, well, at least we'll know where we stand. But hanging on as days go by and there's no new news whatsoever is becoming almost downright painful.  

Well, nothing has been confirmed, but I certainly wouldn't want a female Aslan! That would make Narnia seem out of place, and it would make absolutely no sense! Oh, don't get me wrong. There are some, well, male characters that I wouldn't mind being changed to a female if done in the right place at the right time. Plus, I would be fine with seeing a lioness (not Aslan, but a side character), especially in that scene in MN after the creation of Narnia where all the animals are gathered around Aslan, and it seems to indicate a male and female each (meaning there was a male and female lion together).

i do think Meryl Streep is a good actress, and she could end up being in the new Narnia film, maybe Aunt Letty. But a female Aslan would be crossing the line!

@impending-doom

For me, it’s important to stay open-minded. Like many have suggested, maybe she’s just one of several voices used to create a more layered or unique vocal. They might pitch or filter the voice to sound more “lion-like.” Or maybe they’re even planning to have different voice actors for Aslan across different films. Who knows?

Now that is a very good point, when Aslan is supposed to sing Narnia into being. Even the text of Magician's Nephew suggests many layers of voices, when the stars are in a high range of singing, obviously pointing to very good sopranos, assist Aslan with their voices. It looks like it might be not only one single Aslan voice that is needed but a whole choir, if necessary. This is where vocals, whether sung or said, are going to be much more important, in this particular sequence. I hope Greta Gerwig knows what she is doing, & until we find out more, such as hearing official announcements, we just have to give her the benefit of the doubt. 

I can sort of hear it in my mind, from reading the text, sort of, by following Polly's commentary, in particular.  But delivering Aslan's song of creation on screen is definitely going a real challenge. I'd hate to see the whole project scrapped because of fandom's undue interference. I just want it to be as faithful to the original book & to the series as possible, with no more green mists or multiple swords. 

Last year, I found myself watching a production of Anne of Green Gables, called Anne with an E, so unlike the original version, & so clearly slanted towards so many anachronistic twenty-first century social causes, that I was glad that the series wasn't continued. 

Personally, I think that if it's anything other than a straight up "Meryl Streep as Aslan" casting then Netflix would be well within their rights to deny the whole thing.

Like, if it was only ever intended to be an audio Easter Egg for the hardcore geeks to notice, then why not deny it to preserve the mystery and save yourself a huge PR headache.

Netflix have however been asked to comment multiple times by multiple news outlets and have chosen to remain silent

Posted by: @son-of-eve

IMO, the NPN story was probably an April Fools joke, even if Meryl Streep being in talks to voice Aslan would turn out to be true. Remember how Deadline broke it that Louis Partridge would play Digory and then it turned out not to be true? So really we know nothing for certain.

There's a few points to note there:

- Nexus Point News have confirmed the story was not intended as an April Fools. They have said they are standing by their reporting and have complete confidence in the source.

- Deadline have corroborated their story from their own sources.

- The Louis Partridge detail was something that was slipped into a background piece about the actor due to an error on IMDB. it was not reported as a news story on Deadline, and was very quickly corrected by them.

- Netflix were very quick to issue a formal denial on Louis Partridge.

- Netflix have been asked to comment multiple times by multiple news outlets (including NarniaWeb) on the Steep story and have chosen to remain silent

Yes, it's still not definitely certain, but it's more than just an April Fools gone wrong at this stage. 

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Now that is a very good point, when Aslan is supposed to sing Narnia into being. Even the text of Magician's Nephew suggests many layers of voices, when the stars are in a high range of singing, obviously pointing to very good sopranos, assist Aslan with their voices. It looks like it might be not only one single Aslan voice that is needed but a whole choir, if necessary. This is where vocals, whether sung or said, are going to be much more important, in this particular sequence.

That's true, and probably a number of fans have been thinking of that. I know it's crossed my mind that they may blend multiple singing voices for the creation sequence. But the rumour we're dealing with here points specifically to Meryl Streep, and while she's an absolutely brilliant actress, she is not a professional singer.

It's quite likely that Aslan's singing voice will be provided by someone (or more than one person) other than whoever does his — or her? — speaking voice. And it's pretty much 100% certain that professional singers will be used for that effect. Whatever Meryl Streep is actually being considered for — if anything — it just doesn't seem logical that it would be the singing voice of Aslan and/or the stars.

I hope Greta Gerwig knows what she is doing, & until we find out more, such as hearing official announcements, we just have to give her the benefit of the doubt. 

I think what is making many fans (including me) uneasy about this is the total lack of any response from Netflix, Gerwig, or anybody else connected to the project, ever since this rumour broke. Not even a vague non-answer like "While we are currently in talks with a number of actors for potential roles in Greta Gerwig's Narnia movie, we are not able to confirm who will play any specific role at this stage." Which at least would acknowledge that they're aware there's a bit of a stir at the moment, although it doesn't answer the really burning question — is it true that they are planning to portray Aslan as female (which is what the original news story specifically says), or at least to use a female actor's voice for an otherwise apparently male Lion? 

I'd hate to see the whole project scrapped because of fandom's undue interference. I just want it to be as faithful to the original book & to the series as possible, with no more green mists or multiple swords. 

I wouldn't say that fans writing letters / emails to a number of people involved with the project — asking for clarification on this issue and making clear (in respectful terms) that the majority of Narnia fans do not believe a female or feminised Aslan is a good idea, IF it really is being planned or even considered — is "undue interference". Making threats to persons or property, or trying to take action to disrupt the project, would definitely be undue interference, which is why NarniaWeb staff have reminded those wanting to make their concerns known: "please represent this community with calm, compassion, and respect for the cast, crew, and staff. This is not optional." 

Last year, I found myself watching a production of Anne of Green Gables, called Anne with an E, so unlike the original version, & so clearly slanted towards so many anachronistic twenty-first century social causes, that I was glad that the series wasn't continued. 

Well, there's the point. If Gerwig and Netflix really HAVE chosen to make at least one very drastic change to the children's classic they're adapting — a change that would indicate that the project is being driven more by a desire to represent a personal political stance than to be faithful to the spirit of the original — the resulting film will probably not be popular with the majority of fans, just like the new version of Anne of Green Gables. (It probably won't age well, either, because in years to come it'll stand out blatantly as geared to the popular concerns of its own time, rather than having the timeless quality that makes truly classic stories classic.)

This is the problem, as I know I've already said, that is embroiling Disney's remake of Snow White — another radically different take on a well-known and much-loved story. It beggars belief that Netflix would go and make the same mistake, after seeing how spectacularly an expensive film project can bomb when it turns out to have strayed too far from what most fans will accept as a faithful adaptation. But even if they (Netflix) are not doing that, they're also not offering Narnia fans any reassurance that they're not. 

I too am still hoping, deep down, that the original "Meryl Streep as Aslan" rumour was false and that this whole blow-up will turn out to be another tempest in a teacup, and that the new Narnia film, when we get it, will have Aslan as a magnificent maned Lion with a definitely male-sounding voice — along with all the other qualities of character he has in the books — and that I'll leave the cinema thinking "Oh wow, they just GOT it!!" (Like I did with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, all those years ago now.) But right now, with this particular rumour still churning away out there and nothing at all to discredit it, I'm not very confident...  

Will people go back to watching the Walden films if Greta Gerwig makes Aslan into a lioness?  They may want to since the Walden movies for the most part were decent for casting even though the story adaptation was not always perfect. I don’t know if the Walden films would become more popular. Greta does have the box office to consider, and I doubt if a  female Aslan would sell as many tickets. The whole issue may come down to money, which may be kind of unfortunate, but it may also work in favor for those wanting a male Aslan, which would be better for the film’s success. If money motivates Greta to make a better adaptation it is a good thing. I have a feeling that her first film will outsell any others that she makes (the same was true of the Walden films) so she knows that it must be reasonably accurate to the books or the film will not make much money.  Let’s hope that she creates something that for the most part is faithful to the books.

@son-of-eve Well, I haven't seen that particular Anne adaptation, or any previous ones, and indeed I haven't read the original books — they were popular with some other girls at my school, but I much preferred fantasy stories! — so I can't judge directly.

I was actually referring more to the possibility of the upcoming Narnia film having at least one huge change — Aslan's gender — for no good reason other than to suit a modern political standpoint. Things like that generally do not age well, because one of the reasons the story is a classic in the first place is because it doesn't focus on the concerns of a particular era. Putting an early-21st-century agenda into a classic story takes away that universal quality that's enabled it to resonate with generations of readers (or viewers) and usually makes it feel forced and even outright fake.

And the thing with this possible change is, because Narnia IS such a classic (has been for over 70 years and counting) and almost everyone is aware of Aslan as an iconic character and image, a new version with a female Aslan would stand out blatantly and jarringly. The whole concept just screams "We can't possibly have a male divine figure in this day and age — promoting horrible nasty patriarchal religion and all that — so here is the politically correct gender-swapped version."

If that really is what they're planning, it's so clumsy and forced that it's unlikely to go down well even with those who aren't already fans of Narnia, or who aren't particularly religious or traditionalist — let alone with those who are.  

This rumour has been circulating for a week now and Neflix still has not commentated on it. Given the total PR disaster of Disney's Snow White they would have every motivation to deny this quickly if it was untrue and they were committed to a faithful adaption.  That they have not done so suggests two possibilities.

1. The rumour is true and they are planning a female Aslan, or at least one who is significantly feminised.

2. The rumour is false but they are planning something worse and are allowing this to circulate unchecked in an attempt to preemptively discredit fan opposition. If even a few Narnia fans make derogatory and inflammatory comments about those associated with the project over a rumour that later turns out to be false, we can all be dismissed as toxic and hysterical.

What could be worse that a female Aslan? How about a male Aslan who is malevolent, with Jadis as a misunderstood feminist heroine challenging toxic masculinity, and later in the franchise Susan as a tragic victim of Aslan's patriarchal oppression?

Sadly, I don't think this sort of nightmare scenario is at all implausible. I've seen a few Narnia fanfictions that take that sort of line. 

Posted by: @impending-doom

 

What I really don’t support is the idea of review-bombing or actively rooting for a movie to fail before we even know what it is. I don't think that's what you're suggesting — just something I’ve seen from a few corners of the internet lately, and I don’t think that’s productive.

So true!  As much as I am not thrilled by the possibility of Aslan being gender-swapped or feminized, I think it's so important not to get carried away, accusatory, and as you say "rooting for the movie to fail before we even know what it is."

Honestly, for the most part, ever since we've been getting more updates and snippets of news have been coming out about plans for the movie and casting rumours etc., I have been reminded of the joyful and enthusiastic anticipation I had when we would get news on the progress of the Walden Media movies.  And since it has appeared that Greta Gerwig is likely to be introducing the world to Narnia through MN rather than the more well-known LWW, I have felt similar joyful and enthusiastic anticipation again regarding Greta Gerwig's plans for the movie.  I would honestly, be disappointed and hate to see Aslan who is so integral to the whole Chronicles of Narnia series changed to the point where I cannot support the movie.  But to start name-calling and calling and accusing Greta and the rest of the crew of pushing certain agendas, without knowing whether there be any truth to this rumour let alone their possible reasoning behind it, does not help the cause of making sure Greta does deliver a relatively faithful portrayal of Aslan in the up-coming film.  I honestly want to root for this movie to be made - and for the whole series (if possible) to be made.  With that in mind, I really appreciate the reminder to reach out with calm, compassion and respect when contacting the crew and staff about this rumour.

As others have said though, it so would put my mind at ease if Greta or one of the other senior members of the crew came out and addressed these rumours one way or another.

Also - as plenty of others have pointed out, there are many other characters which could very much be gender-swapped or whatever, such as Fledge or else, other roles equally as suitable for Meryl Streep such as Aunt Letty or Mrs Lefay or even the White Witch... she is a respected and good actress and I'm sure that she would do a fine job in any of these roles.  But to change Aslan from the King of Beasts, the Highest of all Kings and the Son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea, just seems too big and unnecessary of a change for the most important of all the characters from the Chronicles.

Posted by: @narnian78

Will people go back to watching the Walden films if Greta Gerwig makes Aslan into a lioness?

My response is going to be a little off topic, I guess, but I don't see why a new series of Narnia movies from Netflix would mean people would have to stop watching the old ones from Walden Media. It's not like everybody stopped watching the BBC miniseries or the various radio dramas after the Walden movies were made. Now it's true there will be some people who like the Netflix movies better (though this controversy makes that harder to imagine at the moment ) and some people who like the Walden movies better and some who like the BBC series better, etc. But it's not like only one adaptation can exist at a time. Personally, I enjoy looking at all the different adaptations of books I enjoy and comparing their various strengths and weaknesses. 

Getting back to the topic, I've been thinking about having the character of Aslan be male but voiced by an actress and while that's closer to the book than making him a lioness, I'm not sure it would work very well in practice. You see, I think having women play men and vice versa works better on the stage. I've never seen it done in a movie where it wasn't at least a little bit distracting. And this is a possibility that kind of worries me about Greta Gerwig. I've defended her Little Women adaptation twice in this thread, but I have to say I don't think it worked for it to have the same actress portray Amy March as a child and as a young adult. Given Gerwig's interest in film history, I imagine this was done as an homage to the oldest movie adaptations of Little Women. But those movies had generally broad, hammy acting and a more theatrical feel to them. By contrast, the acting in the 2019 Little Women was mostly subtle and "young" Amy felt like she was in a different film from everybody else. I'd like Gerwig to stick to one style in her Narnia movies and not try to blend the theatrical and the cinematic. 

(In fairness, I imagine another reason for having one actress portray Amy throughout, likely the main reason, was that the cast needed to convince as a close family, and it'd be harder for them to do that with a different actress for half the thing. I'm not sure it was worth it though.) 

@hermit

What could be worse that a female Aslan? How about a male Aslan who is malevolent, with Jadis as a misunderstood feminist heroine challenging toxic masculinity, and later in the franchise Susan as a tragic victim of Aslan's patriarchal oppression?

Sadly, I don't think this sort of nightmare scenario is at all implausible. I've seen a few Narnia fanfictions that take that sort of line. 

Neil Gaiman wrote in 2004, a short story which actually suggested a similar scenario. Called The Problem of Susan, it worked on the premise that if you take out the Easter-like willing sacrifice of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, to atone for Edmund's treachery, what you are left with is basically only the wardrobe. He starts his story with an elderly Susan awakening from a nightmare of herself & Lucy watching the Lion & the Witch conferring with each other on a battlefield: two fiends conspiring with each other to gobble up the Pevensie children & watched by what is left of Aslan's army. By that time, Susan was supposed to be a distinguished Professor of Children's Literature called Susan Hastings, whose interview with a young journalist involves not only a discussion about the train wreck which killed her entire family but also why people thought she had been left out of Narnia heaven because of her liking for nylon stockings, lipstick & invitations. The story ends with the journalist getting the nightmares, instead. 

Couple that with the efforts of atheist Philip Pullman, the author of His Dark Materials, and I am not surprised at what you say. 

@Col Klink 

But it's not like only one adaptation can exist at a time. Personally, I enjoy looking at all the different adaptations of books I enjoy and comparing their various strengths and weaknesses. 

That is true, but, so far, we only have two audio productions, & no videos of Magician's Nephew. The greatest fear I have of filming this particular Narnia episode is, that having imagined what takes place from the illustrated text for so long, that I will be a little disappointed, no matter what, with the actual Netflix film, once it is done. I remember I rejoined this forum in September, 2009, at a time when much discussion was about whether or not VDT would be greenlighted. 

LWW has had several versions, including the audio versions of BBC & Family in Focus, I think it is. But, so far, it has only been BBC & Walden who did PC & VDT. BBC went on to do SC, using the same actress for the Lady of the Green Kirtle - Barbara Kellerman - who also was Jadis in LWW & the Hag in PC. It will be ever so interesting to see who they get to play Jadis. So far, this rumour about Aslan being female is too much like the pantomime theatre inversions where the Hero is always feminine whilst men play the Wicked stepmother & two ugly stepsisters & many other female villains. 

__________________________________________________________________

PS: In this morning's Australian Daily Telegraph news for Tuesday April 8, 2025, I read on page 19 a small article saying:

NARNIA BACKLASH

Barbie director Greta Gerwig's upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia adaptation has sparked backlash over the latest casting news.

Deadline recently reported that Meryl Streep is in talks to voice Aslan.

In the novels written by C.S.Lewis , Aslan is a talking lion who serves as Narnia's guardian. In the original Narnia movies, Aslan is voiced by Liam Neeson. News of Meryl Streep's alleged casting as Aslan sparked a negative reaction from fans on social media. 

This news is also in the Daily Express as well as the UK Daily Telegraph. 

I kind of wish that Narnia would be adapted for a network like PBS or some other channel that broadcasts educational programming.  It is much more likely that the movie or television series would be closer to the books upon which it is based. And perhaps there could be a better Aslan that is more like the character in the original books.  I would not always trust the quality of material that is offered by Netflix.  The streaming services or even the IMAX theaters are likely to be motivated more by money than the educational television networks.  The standards are better when set by the viewers. They would care more about getting Narnia’s most important character right.

Posted by: @narnian78

I kind of wish that Narnia would be adapted for a network like PBS or some other channel that broadcasts educational programming.  It is much more likely that the movie or television series would be closer to the books upon which it is based.

Isn't PBS more or less the US equivalent of the BBC, though? If so, that's already been done before, as we all know, with results that were big on faithfulness to the books, but not exactly big on budget or on the quality of the costumes and special effects and so on...  

(And I've said it before and I'll say it again for the benefit of younger NarniaWebbers: believe me, the BBC TV adaptations were cheap-looking and hokey even by the standards of the time. My sister and I watched them when they were first shown on TV in Australia — we were still in primary school at the time — and we were absolutely cracking up laughing at the bottle-shaped Beavers and the silly flying effects and all the rest of it. But those were the only adaptations we had of any of the Chronicles apart from LWW (the 1979 animation) at the time, and we loved them anyway.)

But yes, it's easy to suspect Netflix and other big companies are motivated by money first and foremost. At the moment though, with this "female Aslan" rumour that they refuse to comment on but is definitely making a lot of fans very uneasy — and possibly putting them off entirely — I'm not convinced the people at Netflix know how to manage their public relations, which is just bizarre if they do want to make money out of this Narnia project (which of course they do).  

@courtenay 

I think PBS offers much of the same kind of educational programming as the BBC.  It is true that they don’t always have high budgets for their programming. But in adaptations of books the programs are more faithful to the original books such as the dramas on Masterpiece (which used to be called Masterpiece Theatre).  On the whole they are better quality than many of today’s movies and are more suitable for family viewing. Remember Anne of Green Gables with Canadian actress Megan Follows?  It was decades ago (the 1980’s), but it was much better quality than many of today’s movies and TV series.  They were fine dramas made without a huge budget or modern technology.