Fans are gearing up to return to Neverland with the release of Disney Plus’ upcoming Peter Pan & Wendy, and with new character posters released today; we know a little more about the characters we’ll soon be rooting for — and against.
From Jude Law’s Captain Hook and Jim Gaffigan’s Smee to Alyssa Wapanatâhk’s Tiger Lily and Ever Anderson’s Wendy, the characters shine with magic, hope, and deceit glimmering in their eyes. Of course, you can’t talk about a shine in Peter Pan without mentioning the sassy fairy we know and love — Tinker Bell. Yara Shahidi is taking on the role of the inquisitive, helpful (if sometimes jealous) friend to Peter Pan.
Her character poster is as sparkly as fans were hoping for — though some aren’t as thrilled with Shahidi’s reveal as Tinker Bell, and they’re not mincing words on social media.
Imagine landing a role you dreamt of as a kid, getting a part in a retelling of an iconic Disney story, and anticipating the day of a big reveal, only to see the comments section of your first character poster flooded with less-than-stellar replies (and that’s being generous). Seeing the negativity would certainly hamper what should be a dream experience, and we’d all do better to remember that.
Even though many celebrities tend to avoid comment sections entirely, it’s human to want to look and hope people are loving what you bring to the table.
It’s also important to remember that a character poster is just that — a poster. There’s not a lot of life to it, and it’s sort of hard to nail down the magic of a fairy in a flat image. You could find several film posters that have been total letdowns to films and franchises that completely knock it out of the park.
Shahidi shines in the teaser trailer with just the right amount of sparkle, grace, and fairy-esque features that make her a perfect Tinker Bell. Of course, some naysayers have ensured their opinions are heard. From fans asking, “What happened to blonde white tinker bell?” to calling Disney “too woke” and saying casting choices are “on purpose and not what’s best for the film,” you can feel the undertone of most of the undeserved complaints. Some fans seem to be more upset about her looks than a poster they find mediocre, and that’s not very Disney-magical of them.
One Instagram user brought up an excellent point; often, when reading stories that many originals were inspired by, there aren’t descriptions — allowing readers to create versions of these characters in their heads; what truly matters is the life they bring to the story, in any capacity.
“Now everyone is upset with the casting for Tinkerbell and Peter? Let me tell you this, I read the original book, and Peter Pan never had an actual physical description, and nor does Tinkerbell. They can be any race, etc., Please stop being like this.”
All that being said, we can’t negate the fact that Disney has dropped the ball in recent projects — yes, we’re looking at Ariel’s iconic friends in the trailer for The Little Mermaid — so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that fans are upset that the poster wasn’t as fundamentally Tink as it could have been. We’re crossing our fingers the clips we saw of her in the teaser are only a hint of the show-stealing power she’ll have throughout Peter Pan & Wendy.
Here’s hoping fans are captivated when Peter Pan & Wendy begins streaming on Disney Plus next month and that Shahidi and the rest of the cast are feeling the love in anticipation of their soon-to-be-released project. You can see Peter Pan & Wendy on Disney Plus on April 28th; here’s to our next trip to Neverland.