Yet another Disney live-action remake is on the horizon, this time of the classic Peter Pan in the form of a much more diverse Peter Pan & Wendy. No, there will not be any gross white-washing like in *that* infamous Peter Pan adaptation. Yes, it will have a proudly diverse cast like Disney’s new The Little Mermaid. *And* it’ll star Jude Law. So basically, it’s perfect.
Peter Pan & Wendy appears to mostly follow the same premise as the OG 1953 film, but with some tweaks to bring it up to speed for a modern audience. Let’s have a peek, shall we?
Who has been cast in Peter Pan & Wendy?
The film stars Alexander Molony as Peter Pan (Peter Pan is South Asian. It’s canon, everyone!!!) and Ever Anderson as Wendy.
Yara Shahidi is Peter Pan‘s first-ever Black Tinkerbell, making history, and Jude Law is of course our beloved Captain Hook.
But the best part of the cast? Alyssa Wapanatâhk, a Nehiyaw (Cree) Canadian-Indigenous actor, is Tiger Lily. The role has actually gone to a Native woman, which seems like an obvious choice, but given the racist history of Peter Pan and its depictions of Native people it’s definitely reassuring.
Especially when you remember the 2005 adaptation Pan cast Rooney Mara as a white Tiger Lily who dressed in deeply offensive, caricaturised versions of Native American headdresses and clothes. Basically, it was fucked, so the diverse casting of this movie is a huge win.
Is there a trailer for Peter Pan & Wendy?
Yes! The official Peter Pan & Wendy trailer dropped on 28 February and gives us our first look at all the leads in the film as well as how stunning the visuals of Neverland are. Take a gander below.
My favourite change about this adaptation is that the Lost Boys no longer just consist of boys — there are heaps of girls in the gang too, and all the kids are of various races because magic is for everyone. Honestly, so cute.
What I do wonder though is how the story will approach Wendy’s role as carer for the Lost Boys. I mean, the entire premise of the original film is that Wendy wants to escape growing up, but then becomes mother to the Lost Boys anyway — because she can’t really escape the roles pushed upon her by men and society.
The reason she becomes their mum is because she’s a girl — but with other girls there, I wonder if that plot point will change. I kinda hope so because I’m over adaptations that have the exact same plot as their predecessors. Give us something new!
When will the film be released?
The release date for Peter Pan & Wendy is April 28, but it’s going straight to streaming on Disney Plus, so it’s not getting a cinema release. I honestly don’t know why considering visuals like these would be stunning on the big screen, but hey, who knows how they choose which film goes to the box office and which doesn’t.
