Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ Trailer Splits Fans Down the Middle Over Its Glam Rock Spectacle

Adapting a beloved fantasy series is never a quiet affair, and few franchises carry as much emotional weight for readers as C.S. Lewis’s ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’. So it was always likely that the first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ would set the internet ablaze.

The film was already under a microscope before a single frame of footage arrived. Early pushback from conservative media figures focused on Gerwig’s involvement and on the decision to cast Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan, the franchise’s Jesus-like lion. Netflix, meanwhile, is giving the movie its biggest theatrical release ever.

Now the trailer has landed, and the fan reaction to Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ footage is all over the map. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the glam rock-flavored preview, set to Led Zeppelin’s famously hard-to-license “Stairway to Heaven,” has drawn everything from rave reviews to complaints that the film has “lost its soul to CGI.”

The enthusiastic camp is loud. Many viewers said the trailer surpassed their expectations, with some calling it one of the best trailers they’ve seen in years. Others praised its leaning into the more pagan, mythic side of Narnia, and one fan likened the mix of Jim Henson fantasy, early ‘Harry Potter’ and Led Zeppelin to something they never expected but loved.

The most celebrated moment seems to be the creation of Narnia itself. Aslan appears made of stars before bursting into being with a roar, bringing life to a new world. Many fans said the image of a cosmic lion painting a universe into existence gave them chills.

Not everyone is on board. The most common pushback targets the trailer’s psychedelic space-rock visuals, which many viewers compared to a Marvel movie, with jokes about ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ popping up across social media. Others said the trailer looked stunning but lacked anything that screamed Narnia.

Some complaints got more specific. A number of viewers weren’t sold on the look of Charn and Jadis, with a few calling those sections tacky. Others worried that CGI-heavy visuals could overshadow the story’s original charm, and some said they enjoyed the trailer but wished Gerwig had applied the style to a different franchise.

Beyond the music, the footage includes Digory and Polly stepping into a strange new world, a flight on a winged horse and Jadis in a shimmering mirror-panel dress and metallic armor. Some observers noted that the effects wow in places, like the creation sequence and the winged horse, while other moments feel framed almost like a stage play.

It’s also worth remembering that the production leaned on practical elements. Reports have said the film used puppeteers, creature performers and real animals, alongside work from VFX studios including Framestore, Weta FX and Eyeline. That blend may help explain why the trailer feels so stylized.

A Universe Begins. See how Narnia was created in Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, a film by Greta Gerwig – only in theaters February 12. https://t.co/jwxksCL0N7

— Netflix (@netflix) October 13, 2026

The trailer debuted at an IMAX event in New York alongside a Q&A with Stephen Colbert. Attendees wore light-up rings synced to big moments in the footage, and Gerwig teared up after the trailer played. Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, her ‘Barbie’ collaborators, are back to compose the score.

‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ arrives in theaters and IMAX on Feb. 12, 2027, with IMAX previews starting Feb. 10, before it streams on Netflix on April 2. David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell play Digory and Polly, with Emma Mackey as Jadis, Daniel Craig as Uncle Andrew and Streep voicing Aslan. Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds and Denise Gough round out the ensemble.

The divided response is hardly a surprise for a franchise with so many devoted readers. Gerwig has moved the story from the Victorian era to 1955, and she has said she wanted a rock opera, so the trailer’s bold swing is very much in line with her stated vision.

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