Perhaps realizing they were the only company in Hollywood not jumping on the Peter Pan bandwagon, Fox has made a script commitment to a new Peter Pan-themed TV show. League Of Pan now joins the half-dozen film adaptations, NBC’s Peter Pan Live!, and Broadway’s Finding Neverland in the current, unexpected Peter Pan cultural takeover. Thankfully for those already sick of the tale, Fox’s program seems to bear almost nothing in common with J.M. Barrie’s original story.
League Of Pan centers around grown-up versions of The Lost Boys, 15 years after they left Neverland. While the original Peter Pan ends with the The Lost Boys adopted into Edwardian England by the Darling family, this show will take place in contemporary Los Angeles, with The Lost Boys now Estranged Men who must work together when they discover someone is killing them off, one by one. According to Deadline, “To find out who and why and stay alive, they’ll have to get past the bitter rivalries and bad blood that forced them out of paradise and rediscover the magic that made them fearless.“
The “grounded, edgy, soapy thriller” features “updated versions of all your favorite Neverland characters”(you know, like the Lost Boys you can’t name). The series was previously optioned two years ago with a script by newcomer Brian McCauley Johnson. Now Andrew Miller (The Secret Circle) will take over writing duties, with Johnson getting a producer credit.
Without England, Neverland, or Peter Pan himself, League Of Pan pushes the boundaries of what can rightfully be called a Peter Pan adaptation. This broadening of the legend may indicate we’re finally nearing a cultural saturation point. Either way, ABC’s Once Upon A Time—which already fit in a Peter Pan arc over a year ago—has never looked more progressive.