Greta Gerwig clears the air on casting Meryl Streep for ‘Narnia’

Greta Gerwig has explained why Meryl Streep was the perfect choice for Narnia's famous lion Aslan.

The Barbie filmmaker tapped her Little Women star to voice the god-like talking lion in her upcoming fantasy film, Narnia: The Magician's Nephew.

Explaining why the 77-year-old Oscar-winning actress was the perfect choice, Gerwig told Empire magazine, "I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness. Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight."

She continued, "I wanted someone who was older than 70, so there was a wisdom of experience, but who also had the capacity of fresh wonder, like a child. And also to be one of the greatest actors to ever do it. That list is not a long one."

Aslan, a wise and powerful lion, is depicted as male in C.S. Lewis's book series and the three earlier screen adaptations, in which he was voiced by Liam Neeson.

The character was referred to as a "he" in Empire's casting reveal, and Netflix representatives confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the announcement "says it all."

Cover of Empire magazine also shows a first-look image of Aslan, with different-coloured eyes and a red mark on his forehead.

Gerwig explained that his look was inspired by David Bowie, a key influence on the movie, which she wanted to feel like a "rock opera" despite not being a musical.

"Narnia is literally a world made out of music," she noted. "It is a world sung to life by Aslan, and rock 'n' roll to me felt like a world made out of music."

The Magician's Nephew novel has not been adapted for the screen before. While it was the sixth book released, it is the first chronologically, telling the origins of Narnia. The novel was set in the 1900s, but the film takes place in the 1950s.

It stars newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell alongside Emma Mackey, Daniel Craig and Carey Mulligan and will hit Netflix on April 2, 2027.