Narnia’s Evil Queen Has Arrived

Door Jam: April 28, 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.

In less controversial Narnia casting news, it appears Greta Gerwig has found Jadis, the eventual White Witch, and she didn’t even have to travel to Charn to find her. She was in Barbieland.

Emma Mackey has been cast as Jadis.

Last Wednesday, Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider reported a rumor that Margaret Qualley, Emma Mackey, and another unknown actress were the final three in consideration for the role of Jadis in Gerwig’s adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew. Last month, Charli XCX was rumored to have the role, but Sneider said she was no longer in consideration. Two days later, on Friday, The Hollywood Reporter said Mackey had been cast.

Gerwig worked with Mackey on Barbie, where the latter played “Physicist Barbie.” The French-English actress has also been in Death on the Nile (2022), a sequel to Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and the second installment of the Hercule Poirot film series, and served as the lead of Emily, a part-fictional biographical drama about English author Emily Brontë.

Mackey’s breakout role was as Maeve Wiley on Netflix’s Sex Education, for which she was nominated for a British Academy Television Award. In 2023, she won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Rising Star Award, joining previous Narnia stars James McAvoy (Tumnus in 2005’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) in 2006 and Will Poulter (Eustace in 2010’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) in 2013.

I’m not familiar with much of Mackey’s work, but from the limited amount I’ve seen of her on screen and some of the looks she gives in pictures, she seems as if she can pull off Jadis. She’s also 5’9”, which being a taller woman will also help.

Of course, there’s still the looming rumors of Meryl Streep voicing Aslan. In their story on Mackey, The Hollywood Reporter said the film was still “in the nascent casting stages,” but repeated that Streep was “in talks to play Aslan.” I’m still holding out hope that will not come to fruition like the Charli XCX reporting.

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

Every poet and musician and artist, but for Grace, is drawn away from love of the thing he tells to love of the telling till, down in Deep Hell, they cannot be interested in God at all but only in what they say about Him.

The Great Divorce

Tumnus’ bookshelf

A book by or about C.S. Lewis

If you want to fill up your bookshelf, Amazon has multiple books by Lewis on sale right now, including Surprised by Joy (24% off), Till We Have Faces (46% off), The Screwtape Letters (50% off), The C. S. Lewis Signature Classics: An Anthology of 8 C. S. Lewis Titles in one book (41% off), and those same eight books (Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, A Grief Observed, Abolition of Man, and The Four Loves) in one boxed set (54% off).

Also, Amazon has some major sales on Tolkien books: The Silmarillion (illustrated by Tolkien) is 57% off, The Hobbit (illustrated by Tolkien) is 45% off, the collectors’ editions of The Fellowship of the Ring (47% off), The Two Towers (49% off), and The Return of the King (59% off) are also on sale, as well as the The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set at 47% off.

Behind the Wardrobe

Sneak peek at the bonus articles for paid subscribers

This past week was full of Lewis and Tolkien in the news. Below are articles reflecting on Lewis’ Irishness, a Wall Street Journal op-ed drawing from an essay in God in the Dock, an actor reading Lewis to be inspired for their upcoming role in a major sequel, what book makes a former Spice Girl’s favorites, more blowback on the Aslan rumors, how war influenced Tolkien, a new Tolkien translation, the only actor to appear in every recent live-action Tolkien adaptation, a fish named after a Lord of the Rings character, a bizarre Soviet-era adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring, and more. Like I said, this week was packed with news and articles.