Aslan the Great Lion goes by many names in Narnia. He is Son of the Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea, High King of the Kings, Lord of the Woods, and the Great Bridge Builder. But soon he might become a she. Greta Gerwig is reportedly eyeing Hollywood royalty to bring Narnia’s religious figure, leader, and mentor to life in her Chronicles of Narnia movies. According to a new report, Netflix has offered Meryl Streep the role of Aslan the talking lion.
Nexus Point News says “an offer has been made” to the legendary actor to bring a legendary literary figure to the screen. Gerwig is adapting C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia‘s sixth book, The Magician’s Nephew, as the first film in her series for Netflix. Chronologically that 1955 novel takes place first, and Lewis wanted people to read it that way. The novel tells how Narnia first formed and Aslan became the powerful King of the talking Beasts.
Readers and moviegoers best know Aslan from the first Chronicles of Narnia book Lewis published in 1950, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In that story Aslan sacrifices himself. He’s then resurrected from the dead. He then returned in every book. Liam Neeson famously voiced the character in three previous big screen adaptations.
While the parallels between Aslan and the story of Jesus Christ are undeniable, Lewis himself repudiated those who said Aslan was an allegory for Christianity’s Lord. He instead referred to his stories as “suppositions.” And we’d call Meryl Streep voicing Aslan the Great Lion a “proposition” that is easy to understand.
Aslan is no mere lion, just as Meryl Streep is no mere actor. She would bring the gravitas needed to do the role justice, because Narnia needs a leader with presence. It needs a larger-than-life figure who will leave a legacy that spends generations. That sounds like Meryl Streep to us.
Content shared from nerdist.com.