Stairway licensed for Narnia

Pop culture · Heat 1.3 / 10 · 4 shows · 47m airtime

Netflix released the trailer for Greta Gerwig's Narnia film The Magician's Nephew on October 21, featuring Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. No movie or show had licensed the song before this trailer. The film opens on Super Bowl Sunday, which also falls on Valentine's Day and President's Day weekend. Discussion has widened to Douglas Gresham, who endorsed the film for the C.S. Lewis estate and was diagnosed with dementia in 2024, alongside disbelief at how Gerwig landed the song.

How 4 podcasts covered it

1. The Town with Matthew Belloni, 2026-10-13 (33:45 to 38:29)
   Reviews the Narnia trailer and its marketing
   Reviews the Narnia trailer and its marketing rather than the Stairway licensing, warning that Netflix is selling a franchise before the first film has proven itself and citing the Dark Universe and Divergent as cautionary tales. Stays inside the trailer release already on the record.
2. Pop Culture Crisis, 2026-10-14 (8:37 to 24:03)
   Reacts to the trailer and Gerwig's changes
   Long, hostile reaction to the Narnia trailer: the CGI, the Stairway to Heaven needle drop, Meryl Streep as Aslan and Emma Mackey's Jadis. It retells the trailer beat by beat and argues Gerwig is subverting Lewis's Christian themes, staying inside what the trailer already showed.
3. The Big Picture, 2026-10-16 (2:23 to 13:34)
   Reacts to the trailer and the Stairway first
   Long trailer reaction: the CGI-versus-practical debate, the post-war England setting, the February 12 release and Super Bowl weekend math. The Stairway licensing is noted as a first, then folded into the broader read.
4. Pop Culture Crisis, 2026-10-19 (7:34 to 21:51)
   Questions the estate endorsement and the screening
   Reads the Relevant Magazine screening report and the C.S. Lewis estate statement, and questions both: an unnamed person says Aslan is clearly male, and the estate's endorsement comes from Douglas Gresham, who has dementia. The hosts suspect a post-production pitch shift.
   New angle: Douglas Gresham, who endorsed the film for the C.S. Lewis estate, was diagnosed with dementia in 2024.
5. The Best One Yet, 2026-10-21 (23:13 to 24:21)
   Reports the first Stairway licensing for Narnia
   A short fact segment on Netflix's Narnia trailer: the first-ever licensing of Stairway to Heaven, plus the Super Bowl Sunday release date. Riffs on how Gerwig pulled it off.
   New angle: No movie or show had licensed Stairway to Heaven before Gerwig's Narnia trailer.