In the midst of Warner Bros. recent Batman Vs. Superman delay, in that same statement the studio revealed what movie would be taking over the vacant release date, and that would be a new Peter Pan film. 'Pan' is the supposed back story of the protagonist Peter Pan of Neverland, who we all know as the boy who refuses to age, and resides with a number of stranded children with whom he plays with Indians and battles pirates. But in Joe Wright's (Hanna) upcoming film 'Pan', we'll apparently be seeing a prequel to the original film, which will presumably explain how the rivalry between Pan and Hook began, and now we have the first bits of casting news for two of the film's key roles.
The first bit of casting news we have here might confuse some readers, but it's that of Hugh Jackman (
X-Men: Days of Future Past) as Blackbeard, who rather than the infamous Captain Hook will be the primary villain of this film. Rumors had circulated that Jackman was up for a part in the film just a few weeks ago, which many believed was that of Hook, but it seems Wright has elected to take a different route with that character. As for Blackbeard, Jackman has officially confirmed he's won the part, beating out previously rumored candidate Javier Bardem (
No Country For Oldmen).
Now along with the casting of Jackman,
Deadline has also reported the
Tron: Legacy star Garrett Hedlund will be signing on to the lead role of a younger version of Captain Hook. Apparently, Hedlund beat out stars Ezra Miller (
The Perks of Being A Wallflower) and Jack Huston (
Boardwalk Empire) for the coveted role. With the star power of both Jackman and Hedlund, it's likely that film will definitely do well financially, but now it's more of a matter of whether
Pan proves to be a worthy prequel story to the original tale. The younger version of Hook that Hedlund will be playing may possibly a member of Blackbeard's crew, being that this is a back story of the initial contact between how Peter and Hook's hatred for one another came to be.
As for a story line, there has yet to be an official casting for
Peter Pan, or any of the lost boys, yet a good recommendation is to possibly look into touching upon some of the matters addressed in the
Peter and the Star Catchers novels. The film doesn't necessarily have to be dark, yet it does have the liberty of expression through the imaginative side of the
Peter Pan story. Director Joe Wright has previously worked a story around a young character as he did in
Hanna, so we can expect him to cast a relatively unknown young talent as the boy in green himself. Personally, I think Dakota Goyo (
Real Steel, Thor) would be an interesting choice who resembles the original version the character look and age wise, and sure enough, worked great opposite Jackman on screen in
Real Steel.
So do you like this casting for the upcoming Pan film? Do you have anybody in particular you want to cast as Peter Pan? If so, comment below!
