Aslan’s New Design in Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ Is a Deliberate Nod to David Bowie

Greta Gerwig has never been shy about wearing her creative influences on her sleeve, and her upcoming take on C.S. Lewis’s beloved fantasy world is proving to be no exception. As details continue trickling out about ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,’ one particular design choice has fans buzzing over just how far Gerwig is willing to reimagine one of literature’s most iconic characters.

That character is Aslan, the great cosmic lion at the heart of Lewis’s Narnia saga, whose voice has now been officially confirmed as Meryl Streep following months of speculation. Gerwig’s version of the character departs visually from every previous adaptation, and the reasoning behind that shift traces back to one of her most personal artistic touchstones.

According to Empire, Aslan’s design in Gerwig’s film features heterochromic eyes and a bold red-striped face, a deliberate visual nod to David Bowie, one of the director’s key creative inspirations. The design gives the character a striking, almost otherworldly appearance that immediately sets it apart from Liam Neeson’s more traditionally lion-like portrayal in the earlier Walden Media film series.

Aslan’s design in Greta Gerwig’s ‘NARNIA: THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW’ is a nod to David Bowie, with heterochromic eyes and a red-striped face that parallels the singer’s iconic look.

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Gerwig has spoken candidly about exactly what she was looking for when casting the role, prioritizing gravitas over pure seriousness. “I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness,” Gerwig told Empire. “Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight. 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.”

That combination of gravitas and childlike wonder appears to have shaped not just the casting decision but the character’s visual design as well, with the Bowie-inspired look adding a layer of theatrical androgyny that feels distinctly different from Aslan’s traditional depiction as a more straightforwardly majestic, masculine lion figure.

Streep’s casting also marks a reunion between the actress and Gerwig, who previously worked together on the director’s acclaimed 2019 adaptation of ‘Little Women.’ That prior collaboration gives the casting an added layer of creative trust, suggesting Gerwig had a specific working relationship in mind when she set out to fill such a symbolically significant role.

The image itself, unveiled on an exclusive Empire subscriber cover created by concept artist Jaime Jones, shows Aslan in the act of creating Narnia, staring directly into the camera with its striking mismatched eyes on full display. The cover marks the most detailed look yet at how Gerwig’s adaptation plans to visually distinguish itself from every prior version of the story.

‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ adapts the sixth book Lewis wrote in the series but the first chronologically, marking the first-ever screen adaptation of that particular story. The film follows Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, played by newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell, alongside a cast that includes Emma Mackey as the White Witch Jadis, Carey Mulligan, Daniel Craig, and Ciarán Hinds.

Given the story’s focus on the actual creation of Narnia itself, well before any of Aslan’s other appearances across the series, some fans have already pointed to that specific placement in the timeline as one possible justification for such a dramatic visual reinvention of the character.

‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ is set to open in theaters worldwide on February 12, 2027, before arriving on Netflix on April 2. With Aslan’s design now revealed and Streep’s casting officially confirmed, fans have plenty to debate in the months leading up to the film’s actual release.

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