Carey Mulligan Added to ‘Magician’s Nephew’ Cast

Door Jam: May 27, 2025

The Door Jam is a place to squeeze in articles about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, their work, adaptations of their fantasy worlds, news from other franchises, and interesting articles. Unless otherwise stated, I’m not endorsing (or criticizing) any of these but merely sharing them with you.

While the top story is Carey Mulligan’s casting as Mabel Kirke in Greta Gerwig’s Magician’s Nephew adaptation, it’s also worth noting at the top that dozens of Lewis and Tolkien books are on sale this week and listed below.

Pauline Baynes illustration | Carey Mulligan

The Magician’s Nephew casting rumors and announcements so far have ranged from terrible (Meryl Streep as Aslan) to intriguing (Emma Mackey as the White Witch) to exciting (Daniel Craig as Uncle Andrew). With Carey Mulligan reportedly in negotiations to play Mabel Kirke, Digory’s sick mother, we are back in exciting territory.

Mulligan has won a British Academy Film Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award.

But to me, she is first and best known for her role as Sally Sparrow in one of the best Doctor Who episodes, season three’s “Blink.”

Doctor Who Rewatch: “Blink” (S3:E10)

The casting of an actress of the caliber and fame of Mulligan signals that Gerwig intends to expand the role of Mabel. She spends almost all of the book in bed with a life-threatening sickness.

Despite her limited appearances in the story, she is nonetheless one of the most important characters, both in terms of the internal narrative and what she meant for Lewis.

Mabel’s sickness is one of the primary motivators for Digory’s actions throughout the book, including his being tempted by Jadis to steal an apple from a garden in Narnia. She also clearly serves as a fictional second chance for Lewis’ own mom, who died when he was nine.

This casting news is also significant in that a major trade publication referred to the project by the specific book name, The Magician’s Nephew, for the first time. Previously, they’ve just spoken of a Narnia adaptation.

Now, we need to confirm that Meryl Streep is playing Letitia Ketterly (or just not playing Aslan), and the casting of The Magician’s Nephew will be taking shape nicely.

Sources:

• The Hollywood Reporter

• Variety

• Deadline

• Narnia Web

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

A great many people do now seem to think that the mere state of being worried is itself meritorious. I don’t think it is. We must, if it so happens, give our lives for others: but even while we’re doing it, I think we’re meant to enjoy Our Lord and, in Him, our friends, our food, our sleep, our jokes, and the birds song and the frosty sunrise.

December 20, 1946 letter, The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 2

Tumnus’ bookshelf

More books by or about Lewis or Tolkien

There are a lot of Lewis and Tolkien books on sale this week.¹ See if any are missing from your shelf. If you don’t have God in the Dock, please grab it for $1.99. I can’t recommend it enough.

C.S. Lewis Non-Fiction

• God in the Dock (ebook) — C.S. Lewis ($1.99 -87%)

• Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories (ebook) — C.S. Lewis ($1.99 -87%)

• Miracles (ebook) — C.S. Lewis ($1.99 -87%)

C.S. Lewis Letters

• The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 1: Family Letters, 1905-1931 (ebook) — C.S. Lewis ($2.99 -81%)

• The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 2: Books, Broadcasts and the War, 1931-1949 ($2.99 -85%)

C.S. Lewis Fiction

• Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold (ebook) — C.S. Lewis ($1.99 -82%)

J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Revised and Expanded) (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

J.R.R. Tolkien: The History of Middle-earth Set

• Volume 1: The History of Middle-earth: The Lost Tales Part One (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 2: The History of Middle-earth: The Lost Tales Part Two (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 3: The Lays of Beleriand (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 4: The Shaping of Middle-Earth: The Quenta, the Ambarkanta, and the Annals, Together With the Earliest 'Silmarillion' and the First Map (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 5: The Lost Road and Other Writings (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 6: The Return of The Shadow: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part One (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 - 82%)

• Volume 7: The Treason of Isengard: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Two (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 8: The War Of The Ring: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Three (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 9: Sauron Defeated: The End Of The Third Age: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Four (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 10: Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part One: The Legends of Aman (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 11: The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Volume 12: The Peoples of Middle-earth (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

J.R.R. Tolkien: Other Middle-earth Works

• The Silmarillion (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• The Hobbit, Illustrated by the Author (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($3.99 -86%)

• The Hobbit: A Graphic Novel (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien, Chuck Dixon ($1.99 -85%)

• The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($2.99 -81%)

• The Fall of Númenor: And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -85%)

• Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• The Fall Of Gondolin (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Beren And Lúthien (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• The Children of Húrin (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien (hardcover) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($19.29 -45%)

• The Maps of Middle-earth (hardcover) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($15.72 -48%)

• The History of the Hobbit (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($2.49 - 89%)

• The Nature of Middle-earth (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien (1.99 -85%)

J.R.R. Tolkien: Non-Middle-earth Works

• The Lay Of Aotrou and Itroun (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• The Fall of Arthur (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -83%)

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -87%)

• The Legend Of Sigurd And Gudrún (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• The Story Of Kullervo (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

• The Battle of Maldon: Together With the Homecoming of Beorhtnoth (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -83%)

• Letters From Father Christmas (ebook) — J.R.R. Tolkien ($1.99 -82%)

Behind the Wardrobe

Sneak peek at the bonus articles

Below, paid subscribers will see more news on the Netflix Narnia movie, a possibly worse adaptive choice for Aslan in another new Narnia adaptation, why Silicon Valley is in love with the Shire, reviews for Tolkien and Lewis-related books, and more video game to movie adaptation news.