Barbie director Greta Gerwig has sparked backlash, as it is revealed that Meryl Streep is in talks to voice Aslan in her upcoming adaptation of CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.

CS Lewis is a beloved Christian author, who weaves the Christian message throughout the Narnia series. The character of Aslan the Lion serves as a parallel for Jesus, being killed by the White Witch and resurrecting to save the kingdom.

In a letter, CS Lewis described Aslan as “an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, ‘What might Jesus be like if there really were a world like Narnia, and he chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?’”

Deadline has confirmed that three-time Oscar winner Streep – who starred as matriarch Aunt March in Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women – is a frontrunner for the iconic role.

Many have expressed concern that casting Streep is effectively gender-swapping Jesus.

Christian blogger Taylor Trandahl said: “Will all due respect to Meryl Streep's acting abilities, there's no conceivable reason to cast a female as Aslan unless it is to deliberately subvert C.S. Lewis.”

Gerwig is currently adapting the first book of the series, The Magician’s Nephew, which tells the origin story of Narnia. It will be the first in a multi-film deal with Netflix.

In 2024, she told Time that her adaptation would be “connected to the folklore and fairy stories of England, but a combination of different traditions.”

“As a child, you accept the whole thing - that you’re in this land of Narnia, there’s fauns, and then Father Christmas shows up. It doesn’t even occur to you that it’s not schematic,” said Gerwig. “I’m interested in embracing the paradox of the worlds that Lewis created, because that’s what’s so compelling about them."