From the first images and trailer alone, Joe Wright’s Pan seems like a wondrous and highly theatrical take on J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of the flying boy who goes to Neverland. It’s been awhile since a new adaptation of this tale has hit the multiplexes, and director Wright has a knack for taking old stories and giving them a great, visually alluring revival, including his recent Anna Karenina. At the 2015 Comic-Con panel, Wright, along with Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, and Peter Pan himself Levi Miller, talked with moderator Aisha Tyler about how the director’s vision for the film was totally fresh and revitalizing, the use of practical sets and models, and how the tone of Barrie’s original informed Wright’s approach to the characters of Pan, Blackbeard, Tiger Lilly, and a young Hook.

Panel Highlights

pan-hugh-jackman-levi-miller
Image via Warner Bros.
  • Fielding a question about how Pan is different from other adaptations, Wright was quick to point out how this film is both a “complete reframing” and an “origins story” made for 2015
  • Of Wright, Jackman said “the guy is a visionary” and was quick to stress that the sets and the model were mainly physically constructed, rather than done complete with CGI. He also relayed a funny story about not being able to find Wright on the humongous set in Codington, and finally finding him under a patch of giant mushrooms.
  • Going off of the practical effects idea, Wright said that “I like to build stuff” and said that the biggest set in his film was the forest set where Pan finally meets Tiger Lilly and her clan. Levi opined that it was like walking into an amusement park.
  • Jackman said that they actually built the pirate ships that are used in the trailer, and that they built a total of 4 of them and stored them in a warehouse about the size of Hall H.
  • Jackman went onto say that Wright asked the actors to figure out their own wardrobe. Hedlund added “they were all dresses.”
  • Jackman and Wright both stressed the idea that, to children, adults often appear to be “frightening and ridiculous” and that was crucial to the perspective of the film.

Footage

pan-movie-image-hugh-jackman-levi-miller
Image via Warner Bros.

The panel featured two major clips: a new trailer and the introduction of Blackbeard in the film. The introductory scene was immediately involving, showing Peter flying into Blackbeard’s world on a flying ship, and then going right into a major speech that underlines Blackbeard’s totalitarian feeling. At one point, Jackman’s villain reads his own rules for the world off of a pig’s ear. The extended trailer offered a lot more views of the magic forest where Tiger Lilly lives and once again stressed the original relationship between Hook, Blackbeard, and Peter. Still, the most radiant and enthralling image continues to be the giant crocodile leaping out of the water and over the boat. One has to wonder what would satiate such a beast’s appetite.

Audience Q&A

pan-garrett-hedlund-levi-miller
Image via Warner Bros.

Fielding a question about what the inspiration for the film was, Wright pointed to Barrie’s classic and “the sense of strangeness” that permeated the film. He went onto point out that Barrie’s book “doesn’t underestimate children’s intelligence” and how it portrayed Peter as a darker figure.