The “Twisted Childhood Universe” continues to expand, with Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare being the latest to get the horror treatment, though not everyone’s on board after the new trailer.
The ‘Poohniverse‘, as it’s informally named, is all about taking childhood figures and turning them into horror movie icons, and with the help of some public domain additions, it’s steadily growing into a fully-fledged cinematic universe.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey kicked things off in 2023. Since then, Pinocchio: Unstrung, Bambi: The Reckoning, and Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare have all been added to the slate of new movies.
The trailer for Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare dropped on August 30, giving horror fans a glimpse into the disturbed take on the boy who never grew up.
However, based on what the trailer gives away, Peter Pan really did grow up, and he’s now a psychotic slasher with a thirst for blood.
While Blood and Honey was a critical failure, it was a huge success at the box office. Clearly, there’s something behind the budding franchise that draws audiences in, though Peter Pan doesn’t seem to be garnering much positive attention.
After the trailer was released, many horror fans took to social media to slam the unreleased movie, with comments on X such as: “This isn’t even a good premise for a horror movie, it’s just a film about a psychopath murdering children and nobody wants to see that, you sick f**ks.”
“It’s wild how all these classic characters become public domain and the first thing we do is make horror slop out of it that can’t even be asked to embrace the more fantastical nature of it all,” said another.
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“Jesus Christ this looks like an abomination,” wrote a third.
However, some are still open to the idea of a darker take on the childhood figure. One comment said: “The Blood and Honey universe expands, and this is one looks like its gonna be insane.”
“This looks better than Winnie the Pooh,” another argued.
Another wrote: “lmfao people mad in the comments that this ruined the original story have CLEARLY never read the actual book. Peter murdering lost boys is literally canon so making a horror movie makes sense.”
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare doesn’t have a confirmed release date, but is expected to be released in early 2025.
For more, check out all the best horror movies to watch on Shudder. You can also check out all the new movies coming out this month, and find out the true story behind Netflix’s The Deliverance.