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# A scandal is brewing in American religious circles over Meryl Streep voicing Aslan the Lion
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/v-amerikanskoi-religioznoi-srede-razvivaetsia-skandal-vokrug-togo-chto-meril-strip-ozvuchit-lva-aslana-v-filme-grety-gervig-narniia-plemiannik-charodeia/
- Published: 2026-09-24T14:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:25:05.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Cinema, Faith, Books, Society, Pop Culture

Greta Gerwig's film "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew" is due to reach cinemas in February 2027.

Clive Staples Lewis wrote seven books in the "Chronicles of Narnia" cycle, and since 1950 readers have bought more than 100 million copies of them. The talking lion Aslan is held to serve in the cycle as an allegorical image of Christ. Evangelical pastors often quote Lewis's theological books. The tale "The Magician's Nephew" recounts the creation of Narnia and the beginning of the conflict between Aslan and Jadis, the White Witch. Lewis drew in part on the children's books of the English writer Edith Nesbit, which he had read in childhood, and on the account of the creation of the world in the Book of Genesis.

Filmmakers have not previously adapted this tale for either cinema or television. In the three Hollywood adaptations of the "Chronicles of Narnia" of 2005, 2008 and 2010, Aslan was voiced by Liam Neeson.

In the United States evangelicals form one of the largest religious groups, and many critics from among them have already called the decision blasphemy and declared that the makers of the film are mocking Lewis's work. A nickname has been coined for the new character, "Translan", which joins "trans" to Aslan's name.

Conservative speakers remark that such a choice contradicts the very design of the story and that Lewis would have been furious.

Lesley Baynes, professor of religious studies at Missouri State University and author of a book on Lewis and the Bible, explains that many evangelicals revere Lewis almost as a saint. In her words, these readers perceive changes to his works as an encroachment on the sacred. Baynes noted that evangelicals hold very clear ideas about sex, especially when it comes to God. She herself sees no problem in a woman voicing Aslan, but conceded that many evangelicals consider it almost blasphemous.

Leaving aside other people's religious analogies, it would be interesting to know what Aslan will look like: a lioness with a mane, or a lion with a woman's voice?

But if one proceeds from the premise that this character represents Jesus, then such a change of the hero's gender identity does indeed look blasphemous.

As for the British actor of Ghanaian descent, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, playing in the film the cabby Frank, whom Lewis described in the book as a native of an English village, we shall not discuss it: here everything is clear enough as it is.