Daniel Craig’s Uncle Andrew Steps Into Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ in a New Look, and He’s Not Quite What You Expect

Daniel Craig has spent years proving he can slip out of any typecast, from the world’s greatest spy to the world’s greatest detective. His next reinvention may be his most whimsical yet. In Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’, he plays a sorcerer who is definitely not the wise wizard fans might expect.

The film adapts C.S. Lewis’s 1955 novel, the origin story of Narnia and the first time it has ever been adapted for the screen. Craig plays Uncle Andrew Ketterley, whose tinkering with magical objects sets the whole story in motion. His experiments send his nephew Digory (David McKenna) and neighbor Polly (Beatrice Campbell) into unknown worlds, with consequences for Aslan and the future White Witch, Jadis.

Now a new still is drawing attention. Film Crave shared it on Thursday, and it shows Craig in a long dark coat with a satchel, waving a bundle of papers and pointing sharply, standing on a bomb-damaged brick street. Facing him are a boy in shorts and suspenders and a girl in a floral dress, both looking up at him. The image lands as Empire’s November issue, with its cover story from the set, goes on sale.

First look at Daniel Craig in Greta Gerwig’s ‘NARNIA: THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW’. 📷

In theaters on February 12. pic.twitter.com/uv5P8Z76Sp

— Film Crave (@_filmcrave) September 24, 2026

Empire’s first look at Craig, released last week, showed him in a study full of glasses and beakers, with light bouncing between them. Craig described the character as someone who “gets overexcited about what could be, and therefore overlooks the people around him,” he told Empire. He also said he’d like to think Andrew’s intentions are good but isn’t sure they are, though he isn’t cruel or awful.

Gerwig is blunter, describing him as an inept magician who somehow managed to make real magic. The look supports that, with ComicBook.com noting he seems more mad scientist than wizard. World of Reel called the production design something out of a Terry Gilliam film.

For Craig, the role is a personal one. He has said he read ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ in a single night as a child, and it was the first book he ever finished cover to cover.

The still also hints at how different this film looks. Gerwig has moved the story to the 1950s rather than Lewis’s original 1900 setting, which fits the wartime brick and rubble in the image. She has also said the movie draws heavily on the music of the 1960s and 1970s, saying rock ‘n’ roll felt like a world made out of music.

The cast leans into that bold approach. Emma Mackey, who reunites with Gerwig after ‘Barbie’, plays Jadis, and Carey Mulligan plays Digory’s seriously ill mother, Mabel. Meryl Streep voices Aslan, whose design has reportedly been influenced by 1970s David Bowie. The film also stars Ciarán Hinds, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough and Susan Wokoma, with music by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt.

The release plan is unusual for Netflix. IMAX previews begin February 10, 2027, and the film opens in theaters, including IMAX, on February 12, with a 45-day theatrical window before it arrives on Netflix on April 2. It is reported to be the first Netflix film to get a wide theatrical release, and it was originally scheduled for November 2026.

That timeline gives Gerwig’s film a real shot at being a cinematic event. Earlier Narnia movies, including 2005’s ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, were made at 20th Century and Disney, so this version has its own cast, design and continuity. Netflix has not officially named the second book Gerwig will adapt.

For Craig, it is another step in a post-Bond run that includes Benoit Blanc, ‘Queer’ and a prison drama with Cillian Murphy. Uncle Andrew, in a coat that seems half professor and half showman, might be his strangest yet.

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