Disney’s upcoming production of Peter Pan has some major star power. Back in July 2020, Variety reported that Jude Law would portray Captain Hook in the movie, which is based on 1953’s Peter Pan, the classic animated feature that, in turn, was based on J.M. Barrie’s 1904 play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.
Aside from Law, there have been several other actors who have been tapped to take part in the Peter Pan live-action film. Deadline reported in September 2020 that Black-ish star Yara Shahidi would play Tinker Bell. Jim Gaffigan has been tapped to play Mr. Smee, Hook’s sidekick. The Wrap also reported that Ever Anderson would play Wendy while Alexander Molony would play Peter Pan himself. It was also reported in March 2021, around the time that production began on the film, that Alan Tudyk would play Mr. Darling, Wendy’s father.
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Law will be following in the footsteps of Dustin Hoffman, Jason Issac, and Hugh Jackson upon taking the role of Captain Hook, as all of those actors have previously portrayed the antagonist in Peter Pan retellings. It was initially rumored that this film would be released on Disney Plus, just as the live-action version of The Lady and the Tramp had been. However, Variety reported that Peter Pan is expected to have a theatrical release.
As diehard Disney fans know, this isn’t the only live-action adaptation that the company has in the works. Disney is also set to come out with a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. According to Glamour, The Little Mermaid will be directed by Rob Marshall and star Halle Bailey in the titular role. In July 2019, Marshall released a statement to Variety about Bailey’s casting, which read, “After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance—plus a glorious singing voice—all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role.”
At the time, the decision to cast Bailey, a Black woman, as Ariel was met with some rather ignorant criticism. Jodi Benson, who voiced Ariel in Disney’s original Little Mermaid film, defended Bailey and spoke out about her casting at the Supercon convention in Florida in July of 2019. “The most important thing is to tell the story. And we have, as a family, we have raised our children, and for ourselves, that we don’t see anything that’s different on the outside,” Benson said. “I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters. What you bring to the table in a character as far as their heart, and their spirit, is what really counts.” Benson added that she trusts Disney’s decision-making when it comes to putting together a cast for one of their projects, as she said, “So I know for Disney that they have the heart of storytelling, that’s really what they’re trying to do. They want to communicate with all of us in the audience so that we can fall in love with the film again.”
