Peter Pan abducts children in frightening trailer for Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare

J.M. Barrie's iconic character Peter Pan is getting a dark twist in the upcoming film Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare. Peter Pan's foray into darkness marks the latest addition to the Twisted Childhood Universe created by Rhys Frake-Waterfield that started with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequel.

In the newly released trailer for the film, embedded above, you can see the horror version of Peter, played by Martin Portlock, who looks and acts sort of like the Joker, complete with clownish face paint and a weird mask. Neverland Nightmare features Peter and Tinker Bell going around and abducting children in a big creepy van to take them to Neverland, a place where they supposedly never have to grow up.

We don't learn much more than that in the trailer, but it does preview Peter murdering adults and taking control of an entire busload of children. It seems like he thinks taking them to Neverland is the only way to "protect" them.

The main storyline follows Wendy Darling (Megan Placito) as she tries to rescue her brother after Peter kidnaps him. In the trailer, Peter appears to climb through a trap door like a Deadite to lure the unsuspecting boy into its depths. Teresa Banham will reprise her role as Mary Darling, who appeared in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2.

Beyond the TCU, many other popular public-domain characters are transforming into terrifying horror movies by daring filmmakers. Most recently, Steamboat Willie entered the domain. Terrifier 3 star David Howard Thornton will play a murderous version of the character in the upcoming movie Screamboat. Lionsgate is also releasing an evil Little Mermaid movie later this month.

Peter Pan is just one of several beloved childhood characters getting a nightmare version as part of the TCU. Several additional films are in the works, including horror versions of Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, and Pinocchio. Poohniverse Monsters Assemble is a play on the MCU's Avengers and will feature a crossover of all the various TCU monsters. A third Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey movie is also in the works.

Scott Jeffrey, who played Christopher Robin in Blood and Honey 2, writes and directs Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare. This film is getting a special release through Iconic Events and will only be in theaters from January 13-15. Tickets will go on sale beginning on December 18 from the Iconic website here.

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