Were you ever reccomended obscure/little-known media of/based on/around Peter Pan (or even js media that is relatively not talked about much in the fandom, even if related to like Disney in a way), and if so how would you describe viewing the Hook content of said media?
Not really, unfortunately. I didnāt get many recommendations and generally was familiar with most of it already. Two of my personal favorite āobscureā retellings are the books Midnight in Neverland by Perry Bradford-Wilson and Michael Norris and Heartless by HG Parry. Another fun one is Hooked by Bobbi JG Weiss. (Some mild spoilers ahead.)
Midnight in Neverland takes a slightly more realistic approach to the island as a place you can actually get to on the seas, though there are definitely still supernatural elements with Peter as a sort of almost vampiric creature. But what I really like about this take is the unique depth of character development in Mr. Smee, who in this version is a sort of missionary priest in the Caribbean and whose selflessness and gentleness really shines. Also, Hook in this version is looking for Neverland as a ācureā to his terminal illness which is never explicitly named but which is implied to be a brain tumor given his awful headaches and slow descent into madness. Itās a tragic take on the character for sure.
Heartless is brilliant in the themes it touches on of the importance of storytelling (and the stories we tell about ourselves), growing up and taking responsibility, and forgiveness. Neither Hook nor Pan is truly evil in this version. Rather, Peter is āheartlessā due to the fairiesā attempts to bring him back from the brink of death. They essentially resurrect him but heās clearly missing something that makes him essentially human. And Hook eventually realizes that the pain Peter caused him and others was not as intentional as heād initially believed. Heās able to accept his role as being portrayed as a villain and accept even his own death with a sort of gentle, sad grace that few Hooks are given.
Hooked is likeā¦if The Santa Claus with Tim Allen met Peter Pan. Hook is a āroleā one takes on rather than a single man. It seems to primarily run in this one family. Every generation or two, a man in the family seems to either disappear or go insane. The story follows one man in this family (who doesnāt know his familyās history with Peter Pan) as he slowly transforms into the new Hook against his will. Reality and Neverland seem to blur for him and at times itās hard for him to remember who he is and whatās going on. The author does a marvelous job of expressing Hookās fear, too. Itās realistic and painful to read.