NEW YORK WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2026
Meryl Streep's Aslan sings a world into existence to Led Zeppelin's “Stairway to Heaven” — that is the headline moment of the first trailer for Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, which Netflix released on Tuesday, October 13. Greta Gerwig's adaptation of the C.S. Lewis prequel did not arrive quietly online: the footage was unveiled at an IMAX event at AMC Lincoln Square in New York, where Gerwig discussed the film with Stephen Colbert before the trailer reached the wider audience, according to the Associated Press. It is the first real look at Netflix's biggest theatrical bet yet — and the clearest sign of how Gerwig intends to rebuild Narnia from its very beginning.
02 A World Sung Into Existence
The trailer follows two children, Digory Kirke, played by David McKenna, and Polly Plummer, played by Beatrice Campbell, as magical rings belonging to Digory's uncle send them travelling between worlds. Daniel Craig plays that uncle, Andrew Ketterley, whose experiments open the door in the first place. On the far side of it, the children encounter Jadis, played by Emma Mackey — the figure readers know will become the White Witch — and they witness the creation of Narnia itself.
That creation is the trailer's closing argument. Aslan, voiced by Meryl Streep, appears as a vast cosmic silhouette and sings the new world into existence, a sequence built directly around the question the footage asks its audience: have you ever seen a world born? It is a faithful nod to Lewis's novel, in which Aslan's song brings Narnia to life, and it tells viewers immediately that Gerwig is adapting the creation story, not simply remaking the wardrobe story most audiences already know. Carey Mulligan and Ciarán Hinds also feature in the cast Netflix has confirmed around the two young leads.
03 The Song Nobody Licenses
The trailer is scored to Led Zeppelin's “Stairway to Heaven,” a song that is famously rarely licensed for film — which is precisely why its presence landed as news on its own. According to reporting from the event, Gerwig personally made the case to the band, showing an early cut and speaking with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, both described as admirers of Lewis. Whether or not every viewer loves the choice, the intent is plain: Gerwig has described this Narnia in musical terms, and a creation story told through song gets a trailer built around one of the most guarded recordings in rock. Hypebeast and Consequence both highlighted the licensing coup in their coverage of the launch.
Gerwig told the Lincoln Square audience, in remarks reported by the Associated Press, that she first fell for this book as a child — for the idea of a cosmic lion singing a world to life — and that the universe-built-from-music idea stayed with her long before she directed films. That helps explain the shape of the trailer: this is being sold less as a standard fantasy quest and more as an origin story about how a world, and its evil, begin.
04 The Book Hollywood Skipped
The Magician's Nephew was published in 1955, sixth in Lewis's series, but it is set before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and explains how Narnia was created, how Jadis arrived there, and how the wardrobe's magic began. Despite that importance, it has never had a screen adaptation — the earlier film series started, as most adaptations do, with the Pevensie children and the wardrobe. Starting here is a genuine creative swing: Netflix and Gerwig get a Narnia story with no definitive film version to be measured against, but they also have to introduce the world without its most famous entry point. For background on the franchise's long road back, see our coverage in the Previously news archive and browse what's ahead in Coming Soon.
Gerwig has been attached to this world for years. She first drafted the film in 2020 and 2021, after pitching Netflix chief Ted Sarandos, and it is her first feature since Barbie in 2023, which grossed roughly $1.5 billion worldwide. That gap matters for expectations: this is not a director-for-hire assignment, it is the follow-up one of the defining directors of her generation chose to spend years building.
05 Netflix's Biggest Theatrical Play
The release plan underlines the scale. The production budget has been reported at around $280 million, and Netflix — a company that built its film business on streaming-first releases — is opening this one in cinemas in a serious way. IMAX sneak previews begin February 10, 2027, followed by a wide theatrical release on February 12, 2027, with streaming on Netflix arriving April 2, 2027. That is a theatrical window of nearly two months, a striking commitment for the streamer, and it turns the film into a test of whether a Netflix original can play like a traditional studio tentpole.
For audiences, the practical takeaway is simple: if you want to see Aslan sing a world into existence the way the Lincoln Square crowd did, the big screen is the first stop, and February is closer than it sounds. Keep an eye on our browse hub for the title as listings firm up, and revisit our earlier Narnia trailer coverage for how this rollout has been building.
Sources · 4 sources
- Associated Press
- Hypebeast
- Consequence
- Variety
