Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh existing in the same cinematic universe might seem strange enough, but how about both of them going on murderous rampages?Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare,directed and written by Scott Chambers,is the third installment in Jagged Edge Productions'“Twisted Childhood Universe” (TCU).Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarewas preceded byWinnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey(2023) andWinnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey II(2024), which, if you could not discern from the titles, see the beloved children’s character Winnie the Pooh (originally from the books by A.A. Milne and E. H Shephard) turn violent.
The TCU, or “Poohniverse” as it is also called, is all the brain-child of British filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield. When Winnie the Pooh (which was originally published in 1926) entered the public domain in 2022, the material became fair game for a horror spin. Now, the Razzie-winning series shows no signs of stopping andPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmareis just the latest. With confirmed plans to releaseBambi: The Reckoning, Pinocchio: Unstrung,and most relevantly, Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble,all within the year,the TCU is an ever-expanding, exceedingly gory world. So, what doesPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarecontribute to the lore?
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare
What Is ‘Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare About’?
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarebegins 15 years before the events ofWinnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey II. Peter is seen working as a clown in a circus act which he uses as a vehicle to prey upon and kidnap young boys. After one show, Peter (Martin Portlock) shows up at the house of a young boy and attempts to take him to “Neverland.” He is nearly thwarted andhas his face disfigured by the boy’s mother, but he ultimately violently murders her and gets away with the child.
In the present day, we meet the Darling family, which, of course, is constituted of children John (Campbell Wallace), Wendy (Megan Placito), and Michael (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney). Simultaneously, we seethe present version of Peter living in a dirty den with a mutilated face, accompanied by Tinker Bell (Kit Green), who is shooting up “Pixie Dust.”
Wendy is a senior in high school working at the local hair salon. Despite her mother, Mary’s (Teresa Banham), insistence that she go to college, she wants to move to London with her boyfriend. She drives Michael to school that day, assuring him that nothing will change between them when she moves. Michael is bullied at school, finding solace only in his friend Joey (Hardy Yusuf).
Later, when Wendy goes to pick Michael up, she is distracted by a conversation with her boyfriend and completely misses the fact that Michael leaves alone on his bike.He is then kidnapped in the woods by Peter Pan, who has a strange, childlike van marked “Let’s Go to Neverland.“What then ensues is a truly horrific, visceral journeyin which Wendy must venture to save Michael from Peter Pan’s clutches.
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How Pan Connects to Pooh
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmareis one of many movies that lays the groundwork for the upcomingPoohniverse: Monsters Assemble.The most direct way in which it does this is, of course, by introducing us to Peter Pan as a character who will undoubtedly be one of the monsters who assemble. However, there are several other more subtle ways thatPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarecontributes to the future of the Poohniverse.
There are a couple of crossover characters between the films.Mary Darling, the mother of the Darling children, is Christopher Robin’s therapistinWinnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey II.. She even wears the same outfit that she wears in a session with Christopher Robin. This is to indicate thatboth films are happening at the exact same time, in the same place. Another indicator of this occurs in a scene where we see Wendy go to her job at the hair salon. There, a co-worker asks her if she would like to go Glamping with her, to which Wendy declines.This is the same person we see murdered by Pooh during said Glamping tripinWinnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey II.
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Thus, the events ofPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarewill clearly intersect soon with the terrors we have already seen in theBlood and Honeyfilms. Chambers also confirmed in an interview with ScreenRant thathe fully intends for final girl Wendy Darling to become a continued heroine in the franchise: “I feel like going forward with the trauma that she’s going to face in Peter Pan and what’s left for her, she’s going to go up against it inPoohniverse.”
There are also many Easter eggs inPeter Pan’s Neverlandfor Poohniverse fans to uncover. For example,Joey, Michael’s best friend, wears a t-shirt with the demented Winnie on it for much of the film. While it will take rewatches to uncover everything that the creators have planted in the film (Chambers has confirmed there are quite a few), viewers can rest assured that the film is rich with universe-defining detail.One thing is for sure about the future of the Poohniverse,it will be childhood ruining and utterly disturbing.
