Ahead of Disney soon heading back to the second star to the right for the live-action Peter Pan and Wendy, the studio has been filling out the roles of the principal cast. The latest happened last week when we learned Grown-ish actress Yara Shahidi will portray Tinker Bell. Now of course, we’re curious about how she’ll scale down to those fairy wings.
My guess is it’ll be some time before we see Yara Shahidi’s official look as Tinker Bell. Thankfully, digital artist Apex Form has already imagined one vision for how the 20-year-old could look as the Peter Pan character. Take a look:
Ooh! This is beautiful. The talented artist took a fantastical approach to the live-action version, giving Yara Shahidi long fairy ears, a green glow on the skin above her eyes and a hairstyle done up in loose braids. She's also donning the classic Tinker Bell green dress complete with her luminescent wings.
The fan artwork of the famous Tinker Bell (who might be a lot more devious than you remember in the classic animated film) gets our imagination going about the possibilities for the fairy on the big screen. We’ve already seen a few Disney fairies in live-action via Maleficent, but who knows what’s in store for us in Neverland.
Yara Shahidi was cast alongside Jude Law, who is taking on the role of Captain Hook, and young actors Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson as the titular Peter Pan and Wendy. The movie is being made by David Lowery, the filmmaker behind 2016’s Pete’s Dragon. Lowery is also known for making A Ghost Story, The Old Man & the Gun and yet-to-be-released A24 film The Green Knight.
The actress playing Tinker Bell is best known for playing the first born child in the Johnson family in ABC’s sitcom Black-ish. Shahidi is currently leading her own spinoff, Grown-ish, for the past three years. Coincidentally, the Freeform coming-of-age comedy also features Halle Bailey, the young singer/actress who was cast as Ariel in the live-action The Little Mermaid film.
Shahidi confirmed her casting on Instagram last week with this photo of her wearing her hair up and sporting green. I already see it! Tinker Bell is in the house. Check it out:
For the time being, we don’t know much about Peter Pan and Wendy other than its early casting decisions. Over the years, there’s certainly been a ton of iterations of J.M. Barrie’s classic story, the last one coming in 2015 with Pan. The Warner Bros film was an epic flop, barely making a penny with its $128 million worldwide gross on a reported $150 million budget, before marketing. Only time will tell if audiences choose to believe in magic for this interpretation.
We’ll keep you updated on Peter Pan and Wendy as news comes in but, until then, check out what’s coming out in 2021 with CinemaBlend’s release calendar.
