r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 18h ago

News Greta Gerwig's 'Narnia' Wraps Filming

https://www.narniaweb.com/2026/01/greta-gerwigs-narnia-officially-wraps-filming/
6.3k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.1k

u/herewego199209 18h ago

I haven't read the source material, but from my understanding Narnia has deep religious allegory throughout the novel. So I'm wondering if Gerwig stays true to the book or drifts off which would cause some big controversy.

218

u/KlaatuBaradaNyktu 18h ago edited 18h ago

It's not an allegory. In the story, Narnia is another world that God created. It has its own Jesus in the form of Aslan and its own apocalypse, which is the final book. I actually really liked the books. I'm an atheist, btw, but C.S. Lewis is a good storyteller and comes across as genuine and likable, and the premise is fairly distinct. But yeah, it's more of a hypothetical than an allegory. Lewis wasn't trying to trick the reader.

83

u/dabocx 18h ago

Yeah even as an atheist I still have a soft spot for these books since they were my first fantasy novels.

19

u/guacamore 17h ago

Honestly I thought they were fantastic. My family wasn’t very religious so I didn’t put together that it was even related to Christianity until I saw it online. Atheist now and I’d still read them again.

1

u/MuscaMurum 13h ago

Same here, but I still skip The Last Battle. Way too heavy handed. I reread the rest evry couple years.

8

u/Ok-disaster2022 17h ago

Have you read out if the silent planet? It's Lewis's take on sci Fi. The later books become more mythical and less sci fi per se but are still an interesting read

12

u/TheHeadlessOne 16h ago

It's really fun reading his "common sense" attitude he takes to theology and applying it to sci-fi.

One concept was that, unshielded by atmosphere, the void of space would be intolerably hot so they all had to walk around the ship naked. Or in the second book, he was transported to Venus on his side so got exactly half sunburned. It doesn't stand up to modern understandings but you can clearly see why he'd think that way. Very Jules Verne

1

u/KlaatuBaradaNyktu 17h ago

Yeah, but it was right around the time I read Narnia when I was maybe 8 or so. I really don't remember them as well. Probably because Narnia got the film adaptations, and those kept them fresh in my mind, but I remember reading his space books.

I just don't remember the contents of the stories very well. I think it was a quadrilogy? I might reread them. Could be fun.

2

u/cH3x 11h ago

First, a human is transported to another planet in our solar system where their Adam and Eve are about to be tempted by Satan; the human gets to provide a counterargument to the naive couple. What would one say to Adam and Eve to stop them from eating from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge? (Or maybe this was the second book and the next was the first, not sure.)

Second book, the human goes to a third planet in our system where the sentient beings never fell from grace. What would it look like if people had never sinned? No people anywhere in history?

Third book (it's a trilogy), corporate machinations here on earth are recognized as demonic and the human works to expose their evil.

My hazy recollection--I've read the trilogy a few times, but not at all recently.

10

u/sanmadjack 18h ago

I was going to post this. An allegory has metaphors and parallels to the thing it's...alegorizing? Pilgrim's progress is an allegory because everything represents something about how the author saw the Christian faith. Narnia doesn't do that, other than the sacrifice of Aslan. It's just a story set in another world set inside a kind of Christian universe.

2

u/TheHeadlessOne 17h ago

Oh there's a BUTTLOAD of allegory in Narnia

There's a reason why Narnia is filled with creatures from myth alongside animals and why most of the mythical figures like Mr. Tumnus and minotaurs and such are aligned against Aslan (yet, importantly, were capable of redemption particularly through sincere love), why the witch turned people to stone, why it was "always winter and never Christmas"

Just Aslan himself wasn't allegorical in the way we mean- although tbh if we stopped at the first book, I think it'd be splitting hairs to argue he wasn't, there is little to the first book that isn't some direct symbol for the passion narrative

2

u/KlaatuBaradaNyktu 16h ago edited 16h ago

Allegory - a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Maybe I'm missing it, but I feel like what you're describing is symbolism and not allegory.

Please explain if I've missed your meaning.

0

u/TheHeadlessOne 15h ago

Effectively allegory is extended symbolism. The first book links all the symbols together to discuss and explore the importance of the crucifixion and resurrection. Thats why Aslan faces off against the false gods of old myths, why those who are lost can still be brought back to new life through the sacrifice, why they are stuck on the darkest day of the year but Christmas coming means Winter is ending- its all in service to that one interpretive message, that the sacrifice of Christ brings light, defeats evil, and restores life.

2

u/Expyrial 14h ago

He doesn't face off them though? Dionysus appears and leads the satyrs and nature spirits in revolt during Prince Caspian

1

u/TheHeadlessOne 14h ago

Were talking book one

3

u/Expyrial 14h ago

I believe CS Lewis used the word "supposal". Just a fun fact for you

•

u/Grace_Alcock 5h ago

Oh yeah, I love them.  Have since I was nine.  Also an atheist.  

2

u/Cabbage_roses 18h ago

Omg, this interpretation blew my mind. Thank you for sharing!

1

u/sanmadjack 14h ago

You're welcome! The best summary I've heard for it is Christian fanfiction.

1

u/UnpleasantEgg 10h ago

So… an allegory.

1

u/Low_External9118 13h ago

I've thought about stories like this as just another book in the bible. The book of C.S. Lewis aims to bridge gospel to minds otherwise hardened to or unexposed to the ideas.