Early Artwork for Greta Gerwig’s Narnia Spotted?
Newly discovered video interviews with Greta Gerwig posted from way back in December 2023 and January 2024, appear to show an early look at Narnia artwork displayed on the wall of her office.
The interviews, conducted by ShotDeck and Deadline while Gerwig was still promoting Barbie, briefly reveal several large printed images arranged in a neat line behind her. Eagle-eyed NarniaWebber Alex Anar was the first to notice that some of these images bear a resemblance to key locations from C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew.
But could these really be for Narnia? The video’s timing is telling because, just a month earlier, Gerwig had revealed publicly that she was in the early stages of development for her Narnia movie. She described that phase in November 2023 as being in the Wood Between the Worlds:
“I’m in whatever part of my process is just like terror, I guess […] I’m in the Wood between the Worlds. It’s a wood that goes on forever, you can’t see the sky, it’s so dense, you can’t see the end of it. And there are all these pools and at the bottom of each pool is a universe. And anyway… that’s where I am. […] The problem with the Wood between the Worlds is that you can often forget what you’re doing there (laughs). This is actually a feature of it. You kinda get a little bit of amnesia. So you have to remember ‘where am I going? Which world am I trying to get to now?’ That’s what I feel like. I’m very much in that.”
Greta Gerwig
The images are arranged in a way that resembles an early-stage “mood board” or reference wall, which is a common tool during script development.
Among the visible pieces, one image resembles the Tree of Life/Tree of Protection, a large tree atop a hill. Another shows a wooded scene with what looks to be a reflection of water, which is evocative of the Wood between the Worlds. A third image features what looks like a black sky with a red sun, similar to the dying sun in Charn.
The remaining images are less discernible, but nothing appears to show anything that would necessarily contradict the events or setting of The Magician’s Nephew. Of course, none of this confirms that the artwork is definitely from the Narnia production either.
Even if it is connected, it may not represent concept art created for the film. Early in development, directors often pin up stock photography or screenshots from other films as reference to help shape tone, mood, or structure during the writing process. And since these interviews were filmed before most department heads would have been hired, it is unlikely that any designs visible here reflect the final visual direction of the film.
There is precedent for this kind of early and accidental reveal. Concept art for Walden Media’s ‘Dawn Treader’ was similarly first noticed by fans in a behind-the-scenes interview in 2008.
The timing and imagery make it very likely that this artwork played some role in Gerwig’s early work on the project.
For fans eager for any glimpse into the adaptation, this may offer a first glimpse at several familiar Narnian locations and a rare look at the earliest stages of the film’s creative development.
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A great spot by Alex Anar!
I would be utterly astonished if these weren’t for Narnia. The idea thar Greta Gerwig would just be sat in an office, at a time when she was confirmed to be working on the Narnia script, and yet just coincidentally happened to have these pieces of artwork on her wall? That would seem crazy to me.
As it is, and even acknowledging all the disclaimers, it is still utterly delightful to see visual imagery that is so unmistakably Magician’s Nephew. Even if the real world scenes have been tweaked somewhat, I’m confident they won’t let us down when it comes to Narnia itself..
Phew! After several month’s worth of allegedly changed details – allegedly different timeline, changed story beats, an actress allegedly voicing Aslan, rock music etc etc etc – you know, the definition of Unfaithful… we have, before us, something that ACTUALLY looks like The Magician’s Nephew, at least some of it – and it’s the [allegedly] first really faithful details from this new Narnia adaptation. About time!
We still only know 5% about this film and even less about how that all fits together.
But at this stage, it’s definitely encouraging to just see some images that are obviously reminiscent of The Magician’s Nephew. Still hopeful for a good adaptation!
And a huge shoutout to Alex Anar for finding this!
I had watched at least one of these interviews in full before but never noticed the images LOL
The pictures (from what I can make out) are really quite pretty, whether or not they are intended for Narnia! I do think that whatever direction the story takes, Greta Gerwig’s movie will have beautiful visuals and cinematography. Certain of these pictures actually remind me of the Walden/Disney LWW movie!
“I have seen something Narnian at last! This is the news I have been looking for since 2023, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved anticipating Gerwig’s Narnia is that we wished it sometimes looked a little like this.” 😉
In all seriousness, more of this please!
I’d like to thank Alex Anar too. Concept art is my favorite behind the scenes stuff. I’m pretty certain the fourth image is of Charn because of all the red and black.
So we already discussed how:
Image #1: Wood between Worlds
Image #3: Tree of Life / Protection
Image #4: Charn given the red sun and black surrounding
I assumed the Image # 2 image on the right top corner seems to have like rock like texture given how at the back of the image it looks like piled rocks or something and on the right has something sharp like something you would see on cliff while on the left looks like a forest or walking out from the first given some big stick like figures. My prediction is because I believe Greta Gerwig like to refer to a lot of movies and concepts, what if for this part of the image she is trying to convey an art piece cause whenever I read the Magician Nephew, the image that pops in my head is “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderer_above_the_Sea_of_Fog) because if you look at the image it kinda gives like an otherworldness of something new/different beyond the horizon like this imagery of the painting could be a great film shot “possibly” in the film as say Digory, Polly, Uncle Andrew, and the other characters observe Aslan creating Narnia on the horizon.
News Updates on Gerwig Narnia:
https://variety.com/2025/film/features/ella-mccay-emma-mackey-james-l-brooks-narnia-1236600174/
So, I suspect Netflix is actually doing amazing guerilla marketing for this:
– Spread false rumour that Meryl Streep is Aslan
– Watch right wing internet ragebait trolls like Ben Shapiro have full on meltdowns at the idea of a talking lion speaking with a woman’s voice
– Everyone now knows about this franchise reboot before they even spend a dollar on marketing
Denise Gough is clearly Uncle Andrew (Aunt Andrea?), as she has said in an interview she is “mean to kids” in her role. It then would follow that Daniel Craig will voice Aslan. (He specifically refused to confirm what role he is in.) And Meryl Streep? She isn’t in it lol.
Also – not sure why everyone is still assuming LWW will be 40 years later. The time change would make sense as a production decision if they set MN and LWW in the same period and just changed the characters relationships to one another. (Possible that Gough’s character is an amalgam of Professor Digory in LWW and Uncle Andrew in MN?) They’d save money on sets and costumes this way without having to put a huge dent in the story.
One thing that is certain is that this is going to be a real looker of a film. James Chinlund is a great production designer. His work on Aronofsky’s The Fountain is incredible. (Google images of “The fountain 2006 production design” to see what I mean – there are simliar fantastical locations featured in The Fountain, including Tree of Life – the stylistic approach in this movie I think also lends itself really well to Magician’s Nephew, and I cannot wait to see how they visualize Charn, the creation of Narnia, and the Wood Between Worlds this way.) This is a team that will do some mind blowing stuff with practical FX, which we hardly ever see anymore in Hollywood.
@dinoczar Ok. Let’s be serious, please. Nobody spreads false rumours of that scale as a marketing strategy.
First, the goal of marketing isn’t to reach the internet crowd involved in the culture war. The goal is to reach normies as they decide about the film’s success. A film seemingly engaged in the culture war on one or the other side puts off the general audience, who’s already tired of that.
Secondly, with such a rumour you alienate both right wing audience and the audience that just wants the film to respect the source material. It’s often hard to win them back, even if the rumour proves false. A part of it is already against you no matter what.
Thirdly, what about people who get excited about Aslan being a lioness? If the rumour proves false, they’ll be disappointed and you don’t want to disappoint any part of your audience.
Controversy marketing stopped being effective some time ago but marketing based on a FALSE controversy was never a thing because everyone in the industry knows it’s a dumb idea.
Also, i can’t guarantee Aslan won’t be female but I can guarantee Gerwig will never make both villains female, especially if Aslan stays male. If he was to be genderbent, his character would need further changes, unless you think they will actually introduce a lesbian romance in their first Narnia installment. Which is… come on. Even the brave and stunning Rings of Power didn’t dare to put queer content into Tolkien’s world.