Chronicles of Narnia Theory Fixes Greta Gerwig’s Shocking Book Change

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The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels published between 1950 and 1956, but the stories themselves are set between 1900 and 1942. Lewis’ lived experiences of the turn of the century and two world wars are an essential part of the setting, and World War II in particular is a major set piece in several of these novels. Moving the start of the story ahead to the 1950s would not just be an aesthetic change — it would throw off the mechanics of the plot itself, in addition to wreaking havoc on the themes at play.

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To be clear, Gerwig and Netflix have not directly stated plans to change the timeline of this story, this is all just extrapolation from set photos and a few other early clues from the production. However, another major change seems to have been confirmed this week — adapting this series in chronological order rather than publication order. The series begin in 1940 with four consecutive stories about the Pevensie siblings, but two later three books jump around the timeline a bit more, going back as far as 1900 in the real world.

Netflix’s adaptations will apparently begin with these “prequels,” for lack of a better term. The working title of this movie is Narnia: The Magicians Nephew, which is the sixth novel in Lewis’ series. This book is about two children named Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer who stumble into a fantasy world from their home in England in the year 1900. Kirke will eventually grow up to become “the professor” who hosts the Pevensie siblings in his home in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

A Framing Device

All of these timeline considerations have led fans to some interesting theories on why the first set we’ve seen for Netflix’s Narnia series appears to be London in 1955. The most enticing idea is that this setting will serve as a framing device for the entire series. Here, we could find one of the characters all grown up, telling stories of Narnia to a child. This could be Professor Digory, though he tends to prefer his home in the countryside over the busy city of London. It could also be one of the Pevensie siblings, finally back home and regaling their friends with all their adventures during the evacuation.

This kind of framing device is a tried and true Hollywood staple, especially for fantasy movies that are rooted in the real world — think The Princess Bride, for example. It would be a great choice for Narnia, as the story takes place across so many years and has so many characters. Encompassing them all in one storyteller as the series goes on might make this all a bit easier to follow. Remember that while 50 years pass in the real world, 2,555 years pass in Narnia. Thanks to time dilation, the characters often spend decades in Narnia while little time passes in back in England.

There are some variations on this theory that could also be fun — some speculate that perhaps we’ll see a fictionalized version of Lewis himself telling his stories to someone in 1955 London, or even that we’ll see him trying to get his books published. We could also see avid young readers picking up the novels and sharing the stories amongst themselves, or listening to a dramatized reading.

All of these would make great book-ends to bring these movies together, and they would assure readers that the stories they already know and love are coming. Thanks to the film adaptations of the early 2000s, many fans are familiar with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They might be confused when this series starts with The Magician’s Nephew, but the anchor of a 1955 storyteller would assure them that the rest of the chronicle is coming.

This is the first time the screen adaptation rights to all seven Narnia books has been held by one company, and Netflix seems to intend on bringing the whole series to life. Gerwig has signed on for two movies, but if they’re well received, she could always come back for more. It will be quite a while before we see the first movie for ourselves, but hopefully we’ll get more information on the setting and the timeline as the production goes on and the promotional campaign begins.

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is currently scheduled to premiere in theaters on Thanksgiving Day in 2026. The previous film adaptations are streaming now on Disney+, and Lewis’ novels are available in print, digital, and audiobook formats.