Daniel Craig spent 15 years as cinema’s slickest spy, but his next big role could not be further from 007. The first look at the actor as Uncle Andrew Ketterley in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew has been unveiled by Empire Magazine, and he is almost impossible to recognize.
The image places Craig inside the cluttered study of the self-proclaimed magician, the very room where the entire Narnia saga begins. He fits the character description of an elderly man with a mop of grayish hair, with a clean-shaven face and bright eyes. He is dressed in old-fashioned 1950s attire and carries the eccentricity of the character in his looks.
There are no more sharp tuxedos, perfectly tailored suits, and ice-cold confidence that defined his James Bond. This is a man who looks far more at home among dusty books and odd experiments than at a glamorous casino table.
In C.S. Lewis’ story, Uncle Andrew is Digory Kirke’s strange and secretive uncle, whose meddling with magic sets the whole adventure in motion. But as Craig himself explained, there is a lot more going on with this character.
Daniel Craig Described His Version of Uncle Andrew
Daniel Craig as Uncle Andrew in Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew | Credits: Netflix
Uncle Andrew is one of the most complicated characters in Lewis’ books. He became obsessed with magic after his godmother left him a box holding dust from the lost city of Atlantis. He used it to make magic rings, but instead of testing them himself, he tricked young Polly into touching one and sent her into another world.
His experiments later end up bringing Jadis, the future White Witch, into London. Speaking to Empire, Daniel Craig shared his take on the character, saying, “I’d like to say that his intentions are good, but I’m not sure that they are.” He further shared that Andrew is far from a cruel or mean person. He shared:
It’s not to say that he’s cruel and mean and awful. He gets overexcited about what could be, and therefore overlooks the people around him and the consequences of what he’s doing.
In other words, Craig does not see Andrew as a cartoon villain. He sees him as a man so swept up by his own curiosity that he forgets who he is putting in danger, even if that means two children. Greta Gerwig had a much funnier way of summing him up, sharing, “He’s the stupidest magician in the world who actually made magic.”
That line fits Andrew perfectly. He is no powerful wizard or clever mastermind. He is a bumbling man who somehow stumbled onto real magic and has no clue how to handle what he unleashes.
Who Is in the Cast of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew?
Newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell lead the film as Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, two young friends who find themselves hopping between worlds. Emma Mackey plays Jadis, the future White Witch, while Carey Mulligan plays Digory’s mother, Mabel Kirke.
Meryl Streep lends her voice to the mighty lion Aslan. Ciarán Hinds, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Denise Gough, and Susan Wokoma round out the cast.
Gerwig both wrote and directed the film, which marks the first time The Magician’s Nephew has ever been adapted for the big screen. The 1955 book tells the origin story of Narnia itself, showing how the magical land came to be. According to Netflix, the logline reads:
Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Greta Gerwig brings C. S. Lewis’s beloved story The Magician’s Nephew to the screen for the first time in a sweeping adventure that invites dreamers of all ages to experience the creation of Narnia.
Behind the camera, Gerwig is producing alongside Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal, and Vincent Sieber-Smith. Her Barbie collaborators Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt are composing the score. Seamus McGarvey is handling cinematography.
The movie opens in theaters and IMAX on February 12, 2027, with IMAX sneak previews starting two days earlier. It then lands on Netflix on April 2, 2027.
What are your expectations for Daniel Craig’s role in Narnia? Let us know in the comments below!
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