Narnia's biggest fan forum is fighting over banning criticism of Gerwig's film
Wheel of Time fans have watched this fight before, and their show was cancelled anyway. Meanwhile Netflix insiders reportedly think the film is awful.
Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew is four months from cinemas, and its biggest fan forum has spent the night arguing about whether people should be allowed to hate it. On 16 October an r/Narnia thread titled "Here comes the push to have Gerwig critical posts censored and removed" passed 360 comments in about 11 hours. Next door, a "Mod request" thread asked for clearer rules, starting with respect for people who are looking forward to the film.
A rule that does not exist yet
To be fair to the moderators, nothing has been banned. The rule is a proposal. But the thread already reads like a referendum on the film itself.
One camp calls it censorship of anyone with doubts about Gerwig's take on C.S. Lewis. The other says the doubters are hardly an oppressed minority:
"Why are all the commenters acting like they are being silenced when hatred of anyone who says anything neutral or positive about the movie is by far the most dominant opinion? I love reddit and I love Narnia but I've never been more hatefully attacked than on this sub this week"
— a commenter on r/Narnia
Both sides can be right at once: the critics get piled on as haters, the fans get piled on as shills. That is the problem, and no rule fixes it.
Wheel of Time fans have seen this before
The rule's opponents have a precedent ready, and it is not a flattering one:
"This is what killed the Wheel of Time fandom, btw. Mod-forced toxic positivity regarding a 'different turn of the wheel', however offensive to the books, helped with some shills getting promoted to various mod positions in different groups and aggressive silencing of any naysayers. The abomination of a series is long cancelled, but the fandom still haven't recovered, who knows if it ever will."
— a commenter on r/Narnia
Whether moderators killed a fandom is that commenter's argument. The television history is simpler. Amazon cancelled The Wheel of Time in May 2025, a month after its third series ended, reportedly over money rather than quality. The third series was its best reviewed. All the enforced cheerfulness online did not change the maths.
Banning the moaning did not save The Wheel of Time. Amazon cancelled it anyway.
A no-negativity rule will not save Narnia either. It will only decide which half of the audience stops turning up.
Read more: Netflix's Victorious spinoff wasn't made for the fans who waited 13 years for it
The rumour from inside Netflix
The forum war landed on top of a nasty bit of gossip. Here is what has actually been reported:
- The claim: Jeff Sneider's InSneider newsletter reported on 14 October that, according to anonymous sources, people at Netflix think the film is "awful", with one reportedly comparing it to Disney's 2018 flop A Wrinkle in Time. ComicBookMovie picked it up on 16 October.
- The extra filming: in August a source close to the production told NarniaWeb it was "additional photography happening, not reshoots".
- Netflix: has not commented.
It is a rumour, not a verdict, and it reportedly comes from a test screening of an unfinished cut. But it handed the sceptics a quote and the defenders a grievance on the same day.
Netflix needs both of them. The Lewis readers and the newcomers who will come for the director of Barbie are one audience, and Gerwig is reportedly lined up for more than one Narnia film. Right now that audience is busy reporting itself to the moderators.
The dates are fixed: IMAX previews from 10 February 2027, cinemas on 12 February, Netflix from 2 April. The last Narnia films stopped after The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010, and nobody had to ban anything for that to happen. If the fandom splits before February, a sequel will not need bad reviews to die. An empty room will do.