The people behind the burgeoning ‘Poohniverse’ are delivering another grim reimagining of a childhood tale in early 2025 with Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. The film sees Pan recast as a creepy child abductor, who kidnaps young boys and takes them to ‘Neverland’, a traveling circus.
I’m not sure I want to know what happens next, but it’s probably not great.
Speaking to Bloody Disgusting, director Scott Jeffery said the movie was going to be tonaly darker than its Poohniverse-predecessor Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey.
“All of the films from our Poohniverse will feel different from the last, so if one isn’t for you, then maybe the next one will be,” he said. “Peter Pan is the most vicious of them all. He is twisted, cruel and cunning.”
Check out the trailer here:
Confirmed Cast
Despite knowing barely anything about the movie, we do know a bit about who will be involved:
- Martin Portlock as Peter Pan
- Megan Placito as Wendy Darling
- Peter Desouza-Feighoney as Michael Darling
- Teresa Banham as Mary Darling
- Kit Green as Tinkerbell
- Nicholas Woodeson as Steven
- Kierston Wareing as Roxy
- Olumide Olorufemi
- Charity Kase
- Campbell Wallace
There are some famiiar character names there, but rest assured they won’t have a lot to do with the Disney version of the story. According to Bloody Disgusting, Tinkerbell will be a drug addict that is convinced her heroin is pixie dust, for example.
Wendy, on the other hand, is on a journey to reclaim her lost brother, Michael, from the clutches of Pan.
Wait, What’s the Poohniverse?
You may be wondering how something like Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, or Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare even get made. Well, the original fairy tales that serve as the basis for many of these famous movies and stories are fast entering the public domain, which means that they can be adapted by anyone, rather than just rights holders.
To be clear, Disney still owns its own version of Peter Pan, but now anyone can make a movie with the original character in it without fear of being sued into oblivion.
And, just like the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’, the ‘Twisted Childhood Universe’ (also known as the ‘Poohniverse’) is a collection of thematically connected movies that seek to bring those childhood fairy tales back in a darker, Grimm-Brothers-meets-Modern-Horror style.
What’s next after Peter Pan? Bambie and Pinnochio. No, I’m not joking. Bambie: The Reckoning is also launching next year, and Pinocchio: Unstrung will start filming this year.
There are also plans for Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, which honestly we just can’t wait to see.
When is Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare Releasing?
We don’t have a exact date yet, but the filmmakers told Bloody Disgusting the movie will be in threatres in early 2025.
