Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew Book to Screen Changes

Every adaptation of a book to the screen has changes to the story to make it work in a different medium. Sometimes the changes are small, or go unnoticed. And sometimes the changes are huge and have implications that were either intended or not.

Currently, on this page, we’re going to post what we know has changed, and what the rumors are, as of the date the rumor is added. We’re adding new rumors to the top of the list for now, so you can easily see the latest rumored changes without needing to scroll way down as new content is added. Below we list the latest updates (newest first) and classify each change as CONFIRMED, RUMOR, or SPECULATION. Each change above is linked to the NarniaFans source that discussed it for more details, and we note how these changes line up with Lewis’s story.

  • CONFIRMED means solid evidence (set photos/videos or official info)
  • RUMOR would require corroborated from external sources,
  • SPECULATION is purely fantheory from our writers
  • SATIRE is purely hypothetical imagery designed to illustrate deviations from the book, but not expected as literal changes.

August 2025

  • The Setting for The Magician’s Nephew Moves from 1900 to 1955 (CONFIRMED) – This has been confirmed by set photos showing 1950s-era vehicles, clothing, and a poster with the date August 5th, 1955. This is a significant shift from the book’s Edwardian setting. (This is CONFIRMED by filming footage and set photos.) You can read more about this in our article, “August 5, 1955 Date of The Magician’s Nephew Set CONFIRMED”.
    • Some thematic shifts:
      • No longer Victorian → Edwardian threshold between eras.
      • No longer a world before war.
      • No longer represents the spirit of early science & wonder.
      • No longer represents C.S. Lewis’s childhood.
      • Electric lights, motor buses, radios, and cinema are normal for the children.
  • Jadis and Digory Ride Strawberry without Hansom Cab (CONFIRMED) – The photos and video circulating online show a scene where this time Digory is riding horseback with Jadis on a rampage down a London street set in the 1950’s. Absent from the set photos are any horse-drawn Hansom cabs which seem to have been replaced entirely by police cars and 1950’s automobiles lining the street. (This is CONFIRMED by filming footage and set photos.) You can read more in our article, “First Look at Jadis and Strawberry in Leaked Clip from The Magician’s Nephew Set“.
  • New Tower of London Rampage (CONFIRMED) – Behind-the-scenes footage shows Jadis charging into the Tower of London, a location not in the book. In Lewis’s novel, Jadis’s London rampage is confined to the streets, without any famous landmarks. The film’s beefeater-flanked Tower scene is therefore a new invention. (This is CONFIRMED by filming footage and set photos.) You can read more in our article “WATCH: Jadis Charges the Tower of London“.
  • Possible New Character Mr. Potts (CONFIRMED) – Since Mr. Potts doesn’t exist in the book, we can only speculate based on typical narrative additions like a teacher, schoolmaster, neighbor, minor adult figure, original story enhancement, or the Cabby in the book… We know the cabby’s name is Frank. We never learn his last name. Could it be that his name is Frank Potts? Given Tom Bonington’s work in smaller roles it’s likely that Mr. Potts will be a smaller but meaningful supporting part. You can read more in our article “Tom Bonington Joins Cast of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew“.
  • The Story of The Magician’s Nephew to be Told from the Perspective of 1955 as a Framing Device (RUMOR) – The confirmed news of The Magician’s Nephew being set in 1955 came as such a shock for many that fans began speculating alternative explanations for the 1955 setting. You can read about this theory in our article, “Cameras Roll on Gerwig’s 1950s Magician’s Nephew: Young Cast Spotted in a New Time Period for the NETFLIX’s Narnia”.
    • Could the 1950s scenes actually feature Jill, Eustace, or one of the Pevensie siblings attending a meeting of the “Friends of Narnia”?
    • Could Professor Digory Kirke be telling the stories of Narnia to a child?
    • Shared Speculation:
  • C.S. Lewis to be a Character in the Movie (RUMOR) – The author C.S. Lewis himself might be a part of the film either as a witness to the events who later wrote a story about them or as the narrator telling the tale. This is similar to how Greta Gerwig’s movie of Little Women cast the author as part of the film. You can read more about this in our article, “August 5, 1955 Date of The Magician’s Nephew Set CONFIRMED”.
  • Aslan’s Warning Altered (RUMOR) – Instead of the awe of seeing a new world made, the children’s wonder might be tinged with the knowledge that worlds like Charn can be destroyed in the same way as Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Aslan’s creation of Narnia could stand in sharper contrast to the devastation they’ve known. This would fundamentally alter the warning of Aslan “Not yet. But you are growing more like it. It is not certain that some wicked one of your race will not find out a secret as evil as the Deplorable Word and use it to destroy all living things. And soon, very soon, before you are an old man and an old woman, great nations in your world will be ruled by tyrants who care no more for joy and justice and mercy than the Empress Jadis. Let your world beware. That is the warning.”
  • Aslan Without a Mane (RUMOR) – The unconfirmed casting rumor of Meryl Streep in talks of voicing Aslan has led to speculation that the character will be a female lioness without the distinctive mane of a male lion. As Desiree Tarrant’s comment, with 125 likes, cuts straight to the point: “he had a mane. He’s a male. I know not everyone understands that but it’s really simple. Mane = male. Fiction or not he was written by someone and they wrote him as a male. Switching to a female is disrespectful to the author”. You can read more in our article “Will Meryl Streep Voice Aslan? Why Narnia Fans are Divided on this Lion of a Rumor”.
  • Jadis as Science-Fiction Alien Queen (RUMOR) – Jadis stands out for her alien costume that invokes the unique properties of metals from a more advanced world. Silvery colors bring to mind the chrome of flying saucers for a character from another world. We might be seeing a science fiction re-imagining of Charn that aligns with the popular media of the 1950’s. In this new setting Digory and Poly might grow up with campy film serials about outer space and envision themselves entering Charn as explorers on a new planet. Jadis’s dress might have parts of the costume that glow from her magic or technology. Charn is a dying world far older than ours that could be re-imagined as a technologically advanced alien civilization. You can read more in our article, “First Look at Jadis and Strawberry in Leaked Clip from The Magician’s Nephew Set“.
  • Polly Plummer Three Years older than Digory (SPECULATION) – The actress Beatrice Campbell has been confirmed on the set of The Magician’s Nephew. In the book Polly Plummer is eleven years old during The Magician’s Nephew and just one year younger than Digory, but according to CastRumors.com the actress Beatrice Campbell (The Stolen Girl) was born August 25, 2010. If this date of birth is correct, she is currently 15 years old during filming and three years older than David McKenna playing Digory Kirke. We have been unable to find other corroborating external sources to confirm the birthday of the actress. In set photographs she appears younger than 15. You can read more in our article “When is The Magician’s Nephew Set and Why Does it Matter?”.
  • Image of Uncle Andrew as a Mad Scientist (SPECULATION) – Uncle Andrew dabbling in occult magic feels perfectly at home in a grimy, Gothic London, akin to the worlds of Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll. Can a 1950s setting capture that same specific magic or would modernization recast him as a mad scientist? Fans on Reddit seem to agree. You can read more about this speculation in our article, “Cameras Roll on Gerwig’s 1950s Magician’s Nephew: Young Cast Spotted in a New Time Period for the NETFLIX’s Narnia”.
  • Rings as Science Fiction (SPECULATION) – Audiences across generations might personally relate to the 1955 setting, but technological advancements of the atomic age risk turning the rings into articles of science fiction rather than fairy tale magic. You can read more in our article “When is The Magician’s Nephew Set and Why Does it Matter?”.
  • Creation Theme Changed to Re-birth (SPECULATION) – In 1900, The Magician’s Nephew is about innocence encountering creation. In 1955, it could become about renewal after ruin—creation as an act of hope in a world that has already known destruction. It is possible that Greta Gerwig might be aiming for this angle: a 1950s Magician’s Nephew could parallel Britain’s own postwar “re-creation” of itself, with Narnia’s birth symbolizing resilience and rebirth. You can read more in our article “When is The Magician’s Nephew Set and Why Does it Matter?”.
  • Political Subtext Added to Temptation in the Garden (SPECULATION) –The temptation could now be read as an allegory for destructive technology “for good” like nuclear weapons to end a war.  This might give the scene a Cold War flavor—temptation as the lure of power to prevent future devastation—which shifts the focus from spiritual obedience to moral pragmatism. The theological clarity of the Genesis parallel could be muddied by political subtext. You can read more in our article “When is The Magician’s Nephew Set and Why Does it Matter?”.
  • Hansom Cabby Frank will be a London Taxi Cab Driver (SPECULATION) – In the time period of this film the black Austin FX3 taxi cab would have been used for transportation instead of horse-drawn carriages. Does this mean that in the 1950’s Cabby Frank will be a London taxi cab driver behind a steering wheel instead of the reigns of a horse? If Frank is driving an automobile then where does the horse Strawberry come from? You can read more in our article, “First Look at Jadis and Strawberry in Leaked Clip from The Magician’s Nephew Set“.
  • Lamp-Post Using Modern Tech (SPECULATION) – We have also been analyzing how the timeline shift affects the story’s iconic lamp-post. In the book, Jadis shatters a gas-lit lamp-post and its fragment becomes Narnia’s iconic lamp-post which burns by magic. On a 1955 street, however, London’s lamp-posts would be electric as we and others on Reddit have pointed out. Changing the lamp-post to electric fundamentally alters the theological parallels that the lamp-post represents. You can read more in our article, “First Look at Jadis and Strawberry in Leaked Clip from The Magician’s Nephew Set“.
  • Digory as Accomplice of Jadis (SPECULATION) – Why is Digory riding in front of the horse and how did he get wrapped up in Jadis’s rampage of terror? In the book Digory and Polly try to stop Jadis and expel her out of our world, but the imagery of Digory taking the reigns of the horse implies something different is happening here. Have new events forced enemies to work together? You can read more in our article, “Gaslighting the Lamp-Post: What the Timeline Change Could Mean for The Lamp-post, and What It Represents“
  • Digory Kidnapped by Jadis (SPECULATION) – Has Digory been kidnapped by Jadis? The unique staging of Digory and Jadis riding Strawberry differs from anything in the book and whispers of a new narrative reinvention. You can read more in our article, “First Look at Jadis and Strawberry in Leaked Clip from The Magician’s Nephew Set“.
  • Digory & Polly Meet in the City (SPECULATION) – Another twist hinted at by leaked clips is how Digory and Polly might first come together. In Lewis’s book, they meet in Digory’s mother’s back garden one rainy summer day . But the early filming footage shows
    the actors as Digory and Polly on a wet urban street in front of Bank Station . This suggests the movie could shift their introductory scene to a London sidewalk. We don’t know the full story yet, but this is currently just a creative visualization by our writers – no official confirmation yet. You can read more in our article, “Leaked Footage from The Magician’s Nephew Set Reveals First Video Clip of David McKenna Starring as Digory“.
  • Jadis Steals the Crown Jewels (SPECULATION) – The Tower of London scene also hints at a bigger heist: our team speculates that Jadis might steal the Crown Jewels during her rampage, a logical expansion of her jewelry theft and conquest theme from the book. (That specific crown-theft element is still speculation, but the
    mere inclusion of the Tower is confirmed.) You can read more in our article “WATCH: Jadis Charges the Tower of London“.
  • Blue Lamp-Post in Narnia (SPECULATION) – The Tower of London-area lamp-posts are painted blue and gold. We note that if Jadis now smashes one of these electric lamp-posts, any Narnian lamppost could end up blue! You can read more in our article “WATCH: Jadis Charges the Tower of London“.
  • Cabby Frank Drives a Horse-Drawn Austin FX3 Taxi Cab (SATIRE) – To visualize how absurd this film set feels against the scene C.S. Lewis described just picture what a horse-drawn 1955 Hansom Austin FX3 taxi cab might look like. You can read more in our article, “First Look at Jadis and Strawberry in Leaked Clip from The Magician’s Nephew Set“.
  • Crosswalk Light Replacing Lamp-Post (SATIRE) – We have joked  about the absurd possibility of Jadis breaking a crosswalk light instead of a lamp-post. That is purely fan satire to show how the modern setting forces rethinking Lewis’s classic imagery. You can read more in our article, “Gaslighting the Lamp-Post: What the Timeline Change Could Mean for The Lamp-post, and What It Represents“.

May 2025

Mabel Kirke Will Have a More Significant Role (RUMOR) – The casting of Carey Mulligan as Mabel Kirke, Digory’s mother, has led to a speculation that her role will be expanded from the book. In The Magician’s Nephew, Mabel is a background character, but a talent like Mulligan is unlikely to be cast in such a minor part. This is just our speculation, but it’s an exciting prospect. We discuss this in our article “BREAKING: Narnia to get a Mulligan?”.

Corroborating external sources:

April 2025

Aslan Might be Voiced by Meryl Streep (RUMOR) – This rumor has not been confirmed or denied by the studio yet, as I’m sure they all know it’s a bit of a doozy. Aslan being voiced by a female is not something any fan of Narnia had on their bingo cards for any production of the Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan is a supposition, and not an allegorical character. Aslan is not an allegory for Jesus, nor any other religious leader for that matter. C.S. Lewis said,

“If Aslan represented the immaterial Deity in the same way in which Giant Despair represents despair, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality, however, he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, ‘What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?’ This is not allegory at all.”

Further, there’s also a quote from one of his letters, which states:

“I don’t say ‘Let us represent Christ as Aslan.’ I say, ‘Supposing there was a world like Narnia, and supposing, like ours, it needed redemption, let us imagine what sort of Incarnation and Passion and Resurrection Christ would have there.’”

Therefore, Aslan should be male. Now, that doesn’t mean Meryl Streep is giving a voice to a female Aslan. We don’t know that yet. There are lots of characters throughout history that have been performed by someone of the opposite gender. In many Shakespearian plays, women were played by men. In many cartoons, both boys and men have been played by women. In that case, it is about the voice that they want the character to have. Bart Simpson is a famous example of this. I’d call this rumor: Wait and See. For more of our thoughts on this, check out our article “Meryl Streep in talks to play Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew”.

Corroborating external sources: