Peter Pan & Wendy trailer leaves Disney fans furious over casting

Disney fans were ecstatic when they learned Peter Pan was getting a new remake in the coming months, titled Peter Pan & Wendy – but things have turned sour. Some enraged Peter Panatics have sounded off on Twitter over how much they don’t like the casting of the new movie. Most notably, Peter is being played by British youngster Alexander Molony, and the fairy, Tinkerbell, is being portrayed by Yara Shahidi. Both of these actors are people of colour in roles previously played by white actors.

Twitter user Melanie wrote on the social media site: “but tinker bells iconic look is literally the blonde hair n blue eyes. nothing wrong with the loose representation but why keep changing s**t that already has a staple look.” (sic)

Alex agreed: “Disney couldn’t care less about making new stories with Poc characters, they just put poc ppl to play white characters, and that shows 1) how lazy Disney is 2) how racist this is, it’s like they don’t think poc ppl deserve their own stories (beside like 3 animated movies?)” (sic)

The upcoming adaptation also includes a few girls in Peter Pan’s crew, the Lost Boys. This has sparked its own fury in some fans who would have preferred the original intention of the Lost Boys remain untouched.

One wrote: “The whole point of Wendy and Tinker Bell was to include girls in the appeal of Peter Pan. Lost ‘boys’ being girls is just stupid… Girls were already included in this world.”

With that said, there are plenty of fans who are excited to see the film when it lands on Disney Plus next month.

One wrote: “Peter Pan & Wendy legit looks good. I remember there was a live action version from 2003 I watched as a kid I loved.

And Jason Isaac as Hook was cool. If it’s as good as that version, then I can’t wait.” (sic)

Another agreed: “I’m super excited for the new Peter Pan and Wendy movie, and I don’t give 2 s**ts that Tink is being played by a Black actress. I really hope Yara Shahidi knocks it out of the park for all the haters out there.” (sic)

Further fans spoke out about the change while referring to the 1991 Peter Pan sequel, Hook.

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The Steven Spielberg movie bucked the trend of the Peter Pan story with a much older Peter with children, played by Robin Williams.

Fans pointed out that Julia Roberts played Tinkerbell, and was not blonde with blue eyes. Instead, the brown-eyed superstar sported her natural brown hair in a pixie cut.

Director of Peter Pan & Wendy, David Lowery, is best known for bringing films such as Pete’s Dragon, A Ghost Story and The Green Knight to the big screen.

But he recently explained Peter Pan & Wendy will be his “most adult movie” he’s ever made.

While the picture was still shooting, Lowery told Collider: “I think, personally speaking, it’s my favourite thing I’ve ever made, which I wasn’t expecting going into it, but it is. I’ve never been as in love with a movie as I am with this one. We’ve got a couple of weeks left to go and I just love this movie. It’s the most personal thing I’ve ever made.”

He added: “It is, ironically, the most adult movie I’ve ever made. I went into it thinking that my entryway into this movie was that I’ve got a classic case of Peter Pan syndrome. I don’t want to grow up. Who does? And I thought that was what was going to appeal to me about it, but in making it, in writing it, and now directing it and seeing it come to life, I’ve realised that this is a movie about me letting go of that. Whether that’s good or bad, I haven’t processed yet, but it’s the first movie I’ve made from an adult perspective, if that makes any sense.”

Peter Pan & Wendy hits Disney Plus on April 28, 2023.