The Chronicles of Narnia films that ended early came with a silver lining

The last attempt we made of a series of The Chronicles of Narnia the films ended in 2010 with only three films completed, leaving four entire books untouched. Now, Greta Gerwig is at the helm of a new Narnia film series with a bold release strategy, with Netflix rumored to be pursuing an exclusive IMAX release. However, while Netflix promises to be a more comprehensive version of the source material, there is at least one bright spot in Disney’s version that remains unfinished.

With screen adaptations typically adapting about half of the literary series, there are thousands of questions about Narnia and how to faithfully bring this evergreen children’s fantasy series to life. The previous Narnia films stopped too soon to answer some of these questions, particularly the question of how to deal with the last book in the serieswhat a catapult Narnia from an extravagant fantasy to a profound allegory. However, although this remains a pressing concern, the specific thematic problems posed by The last battle are uniquely difficult to interpret – perhaps making Disney’s failure to do so a blessing in disguise.

The Narnia films ending early prevented them from trying to adapt the last battle

The book presents several problems

The last battlethe seventh and final book of Narnia series, was published in 1956 and, true to its name, details the conflict that ended the world of Narnia. In the books’ timeline, which is complicated due to the difference in how quickly time passes in Narnia compared to the real world, this takes place 2,500 Narnian years (and 39 real-world years) after the events of Magician’s nephewwhich was the first book in the series chronologically, but the sixth released.

THE Narnia the 2000s films never made it into any material from the final books in the series, only managing to adapt the first three books (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspianand The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) before the Netflix deal was announced in 2018, outlining Fox’s plans to adapt the fourth book, The silver chairuntil the end. As a result, the film series, like all non-sound adaptations of Narnia the date, Never had to figure out how to turn The last battle into a coherent film.

Why The Last Stand Would Be Hard To Sell As A Film

Not in keeping with the rest of the series

Although the first six books of the Narnia series focuses on children having adventures in a fantastic world, The last battle has surprising depth This not only sets a unique tone within the series, but also casts a disturbing light on all the previous books. It literally ends with the land of Narnia purged of all life and the revelation that the real-world characters died in a horrible train accident. However, their faith in Aslan gives them the privilege of an eternal paradise in a new “TRUE“Narnia.

It’s no secret that The Chronicles of Narnia as a series is heavily influenced by the religious beliefs of author C.S. Lewis, and that the lion Aslan is an allegory of Jesus. It then follows that The last battlewhich depicts Narnia falling into the worship of a false god, a foreign army massacring innocents, and the end of the world and the death of all except Aslan’s faithful, contains some unsubtle religious allegory. Leaving aside the cultural and literal implications of these allegories there still remains the question of how to show a Revelations-style apocalypse in a nominally family-friendly film.

The last battle shows that the Narnians are massacred en masse by the invading Calormenes, that the Pevensies and their friends all died in the real world (and that Susan Pevensie, who died with them, can’t bring herself to go to Narnia because she was too obsessed with wearing lipstick), and that any surviving Narnians without enough faith in Aslan will be left to a horrible and lonely fate as Narnia freezes. No wonder The last battle inspired decades of literary and theological analysis, but this means that a successful film adaptation will require a very careful hand.

Greta Gerwig’s remake must approach the final Narnia book carefully (Assuming she gets to that point)

Is it possible to make a great film of the last battle

Greta Gerwig set a lofty goal when taking over Netflix Narnia films. While his qualifications are unquestionable, having directed three major films, including the hit 2023 Barbieand won numerous awards as an actor, director and writer, adapting the entire Narnia it would be a challenge for even the most experienced filmmaker. Hopefully Gerwig will bring her heartfelt directing style to the Narnia films – and hopefully this will help create a consistent tone that will give them the cultural inertia to succeed and give her the chance to succeed. The last battle.

Assuming the film is made, success will require a very delicate balance between remaining faithful to the text while also understanding that that text is steeped in the time and place in which it was written, namely post-World War II England. This context, unfortunately, means several important elements of the book’s plot and setting feel outdated at bestand overtly offensive at worst.

The antagonists of The last battlethe nation of the Calormen, are a shallow Islamophobic stereotype of the Turkish Empire of the 1920s. Susan’s death and lack of redemption happens entirely outside the narrative, dooming a central and beloved character with consequences she was never warned about and depriving her of entirely from any agency. These aspects would be unthinkable in a children’s film based on a newer propertybut as they are intrinsic to the The last battlethey will have to be considered carefully before being discarded.

While adapting any medium from one format to another is a difficult task, Netflix and Greta Gerwig have a lot of work to do as they try to bring The Chronicles of Narnia for life. There is probably no way to make a textually faithful adaptation of The last battle as a successful film in the modern era, which means changes will have to be made, and with changes come potentially dissatisfied viewers. Hopefully Gerwig has a vision for what changes will best serve the spirit of the story, even if the details need to be changed.