Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

The Greta Gerwig directed adaptation of CS Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew has started filming in London. The Magician’s Nephew is a prequel to the other books, opening in 1900 and following the events leading up to the creation of both the titular wardrobe of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and of Narnia itself.

So it’s interesting to see the first image be a 1950s style advert for new housing, featuring a very familiar lion. If I had to guess, I’d say the movie is using the post-war rebuilding of London as a mirror to the creation of Narnia. As Mark Twain said ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.’ Why shouldn’t fictional history do the same?

There are a bunch of other photos too including some great street dressing and a lot of show posters. I looked up a few of the names and none of them ping as real performers. That could mean there are clues here (The Great Moran especially feels…Magician-y) or it could just be scene dressing.

Daniel Craig is playing Uncle Andrew which is a lovely choice, and a subtle callback perhaps to his work as Lord Azrael in the original, movie adaptation of His Dark Materials. There he played a cheerfully amoral explorer crossing dimensional boundaries. Here he’s playing Andrew Ketterley, a stage magician (and possibly actual magician) who is the uncle of hero Digory Kirke and one of the first humans to arrive in Narnia. He’s also one of the people who witnesses the world being born and is, shall we say, somewhat ambiguous on the hero/villain stakes. Craig is going to have an absolute blast.

Speaking of Narnia being born, Meryl Streep is assumed to be playing the voice of Aslan, the lion who creates the world. That’s not been confirmed anywhere I’ve been able to find but it’s being reported in a manner that suggests no one is hurrying to disprove it. She’d be a great choice, and interestingly in thematic lockstep with Liam Neeson’s turn in the previous movie adaptations.

Carey Mulligan is also in talks for a role but we don’t know what yet. She’s always great and it’ll be fun to see where she lands. Possibly the best news of all though is that Emma Mackey is playing the White Witch, the iconic villain of the series. Mackey’s got a varied and enormously fun filmography, including one of the few turns that worked in Branagh’s Death on the Nile, a memorable beat with Narnia director Greta Gerwig as Physicist Barbie and acclaimed 2025 body horror movie Alpha. She does excellent work and has the absolute presence needed for the White Witch.

Gerwig’s an interesting director and this is looking fun. The movie will be on Netflix when it’s done and the plan, if successful, is to do the whole series.