The first official trailer for Narnia: The Magician's Nephew released this week, and I must have watched it at least 10 times. Being a huge fan of the Chronicles of Narnia books since childhood, and a fan of previous adaptations, I was thrilled at the thought of this movie being made.
And with Barbie's Greta Gerwig manning the helm as writer and director, I have faith that The Magician's Nephew might just be the best film adaptation in the franchise.
Though it's only months away, February 2027 feels like far too long a time to have to wait for the film's theatrical release — which is why I spent hours poring over the trailer frame by frame, trying to decipher what was on the screen while drinking in all the nerdy excitement. So if you're wondering about some of the images seen in the trailer for Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, I've got the perfect breakdown for you.
The wardrobe
Beginning the Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew trailer with a wardrobe feels like a natural start, as it was a wardrobe that first began the adventures of the Pevensie children in the first book of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. However, the iconic wardrobe is much more than a nod to that beloved work of children’s literature — it is also a very important reference to this book, The Magician’s Nephew.
It’s difficult to delve too deeply into the meaning of the wardrobe without giving away too much of the story. What I can say is that Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will no doubt reveal the origin of that magical portal to Narnia. This makes the wardrobe an appropriate device to introduce the rebooted franchise; a magical portal into a new world of adventure, so to speak.
There is another mystery from the trailer that piqued my personal interest. A narrator with a deep male voice cryptically states: “Sometimes, one story is the beginning of all the others.” The Magician’s Nephew is the sixth book in the Chronicles of Narnia, yet it is also a prequel, with the events taking place prior to those of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Although the identity of the voice in the trailer is kept a mystery, I would take stab-in-the-dark guess that it’s possibly Digory Kirke as an adult, perhaps telling the story to someone else in the future.
The magician, his nephew, and the girl next door
It’s at this point in the trailer where we are introduced to the main characters of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. The setting is London in the early 1900s, complete with a gray landscape and billowing smoke from a chimney. Children run and play amidst piles of debris and rusted iron, as Digory Kirke (David McKenna) and Polly Plummer (Beatrice Campbell) sit side by side in a ruined structure.
The two children are watching Digory’s uncle, Andrew Ketterley (Daniel Craig), who is scavenging the debris in nearby yard. Polly asks Digory if the rumors about his uncle being “mad” are true, and Digory replies that his mother told him Andrew is a magician. We then hear Polly ask, “Do you believe in magic?” To which Digory replies, “I don’t know.”
This section of the trailer sets up our characters perfectly. It establishes the friendship between Polly and Digory, who live in the same terraced flats, as well as the peculiarity of Andrew Ketterley, who is as much a mystery to his nephew as he is to the audience.
The visual of early 20th-century London is also a fantastic setup. This gray, dreary city is a view of the real world through a lens of mundanity, which makes the magical world our characters are about to discovery all the more wondrous.
The flying horse
Following Polly’s question as to whether or not Digory believes in magic, the trailer cuts to a close up of a large cart horse. Digory stands in front of the horse, placing a hand on its nose. A delivery truck then pulls up in the road beside the horse, with a logo painted on the side that looks like a set of large wings. The truck stops in the perfect spot so that the painted wings line up with the horse’s back, making it look as though they are part of the horse.
At first glance, this horse looks like any common workhorse that might pull a cart or cab in 1900s London. However, the moment that we see those wings appear, we know that there is more to this fella than meets the eye. In fact, fans of the book will know this horse as Fledge, the father of all flying horses in Narnia.
We even get a peek at him later in the trailer, when we see the kids flying on his back through the sky.
The yellow rings
The next sequence in the trailer shows Digory and Polly sneaking through a crawlspace together by candlelight. At the end of the hall, they open a door into Andrew’s magical laboratory, where he appears to be working on something. The room is filled with colorful baubles, beakers, and experimental instruments.
Excitedly, Polly explores the space, and eventually finds a small box with a yellow ring inside. The scene then cuts to Andrew confessing to be a magician, and he offers a yellow ring to Digory, inviting him to try it on. Though clearly apprehensive, Digory puts on the ring and the objects in the room begin to float.
Of course, the visual of a golden ring brings to mind another magical ring from another fantasy franchise. However, the ring in Narnia: The Magicians Nephew has a very different purpose than the One Ring.
First, there is more than one ring in this story — two yellow rings, and two green ones, to be exact. The rings don’t make their wearers disappear, either, but instead transport them to and from a magical plane.
The next shot shows Polly and Digory awaken in a magical forest of twisted green trees that tower over them. As the two friends hold hands, we see that Polly also wears a yellow ring. The discovery that other worlds exist beyond their own is a revelation, which jump starts the wondrous adventure before them.
A door to a strange world
This next part of the trailer is a bit of a puzzle, as a number of images are presented. First we see Digory opening a set of large stone double doors that are mysteriously covered in runes. Then there is a shot of Digory and Polly standing side by side while strange celestial bodies and objects float through the air, and an archway appears.
Next is a huge chamber filled with golden light and windows that look out onto a picturesque landscape. Digory stands at the bottom of a staircase, and at the top, a figure stands motionless and draped in cloth. As Polly makes her way through the chamber, there are strange figures working nearby, but they do not react to her presence.
This peculiar hall is likely the first alien world visited by the two children, a place called Charn. In the book The Magician’s Nephew, Polly and Digory find an abandoned ruin in Charn with a statue that looks like a woman. Who she is will soon be revealed, so keep on reading!
The golden bell
As Polly rushes through the large hall, she shouts out a warning to Digory: “Don’t!” A golden bell is shown, and Digory’s hand reaches out for it. Polly’s warning comes too late, it seems, as the golden face of a woman appears. The gold melts away, and the woman’s eyes open.
This is a very significant moment in the book The Magician’s Nephew, as it introduces an important character from The Chronicles of Narnia. This is Jadis, or as she’s better known, the White Witch. The trailer shows a glimpse of the witch briefly, crowned and wearing a white dress and emanating a bright light. The bell had put her into a magical sleep, but Digory’s curiosity reawakens her.
The White Witch
Though fans of Disney's Chronicles of Narnia films might be familiar with the White Witch, Jadis is a character who has yet to be introduced on screen. When Digory and Polly find her, she has been sleeping for hundreds of years. She is grateful for their help, but it isn’t long before the children learn of the nefarious plans she has in store.
The trailer gives us our first look at Emma Mackey as Jadis, and what a look it is! With her mirror sequined dress, knee-high silver boots, and a short, blunt bangs hairstyle, she looks more like a disco dancing queen than the wicked wintry enchantress we’ve seen in other adaptations.
However, this is long before Jadis becomes the White Witch, and before she ever came to Narnia. This gives Gerwig plenty of freedom to play with the character’s look and have a little fun with it.
Jadis does more in the trailer than look fabulous, though. We see her riding a horse with Digory down a London street, and brandish her famous wand against a modern vehicle. Personally, I’m excited to see how Mackey’s performance holds up, which will no doubt be amazing!
Flora Kirke
We only get a brief glimpse of her in the trailer, but Flora Kirke (Carey Mulligan)—named Mabel in the book—has an essential role in Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. Flora is Digory’s mother, a kind and gentle woman who sadly is deathly ill. With Flora bedridden, Digory feels a heavy weight of loneliness, as well as grief at the likelihood of her imminent passing.
Digory’s wish for his mother to be well again is a major plot point in the book. As Digory later discovers while in Narnia, only a magic apple from a silver orchard can heal her, but taking the fruit is forbidden.
This part of the book is, like many moments from the series, a metaphor for the creationism story in the Christian bible. Like Eve from the myth, it leads to a difficult choice that Digory must make, and it also foreshadows future events in the Narnia series.
Aslan
There would be no Chronicles of Narnia without Aslan, the gentle talking lion who protects the magical world of Narnia. Aslan was an enormous part of many young readers’ childhoods, including yours truly, and there is much love and respect for the character.
Clearly with that in mind, whoever made the trailer for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew knew exactly how to tease the great lion’s appearance.
When Andrew, Digory, and Polly first see Aslan, it is a celestial figure made of stars. The camera shows each of the characters one by one, their expressions' awestruck — a moment that even had me holding my breath. Then in an instant, Aslan lets out a mighty roar, becoming flesh and blood as the camera widens to a desert landscape.
Seeing Aslan for the first time on screen, no matter what adaption I watch, always fills me with nerdy joy. Even watching them in the trailer gave me goosebumps, and with the great Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan in the movie, there’s even more reason to be excited— no matter what the haters might think.
“Stairway to Heaven”
It’s been a common practice for many years now to use popular songs in trailers, but I was definitely surprised with the use of Led Zeppelin’s biggest hit, "Stairway to Heaven," in this one. It's common knowledge that the heavy rock band from the 1970s is very protective of their work, and has previously kept their intellectual property from being used in film and television.
While they have been a bit more lenient over the last couple of decades, for the band to sign off on the most legendary song in their music library is a huge deal. Of course, Led Zeppelin is also known for being fans of literary fantasy, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. I suppose it's not so hard to imagine that Gerwig could convince living members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones to be part of such a beloved fantasy franchise.
I would have never expected "Stairway to Heaven" to work so well with the trailer for The Magician's Nephew, but it really does. The song has an ancient feel to it that matches the timelessness of Narnia, as well as a message of spirituality and hope. The idea to use it for the trailer was a brilliant move on Gerwig's part.
The Magician’s Nephew will have an IMAX and premium large format preview release on Feb. 10, 2027, followed by a wide theatrical release on Feb. 12. It will then stream on Netflix on April 2.
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