The real story of Peter Pan begins in the book The LIttle White Bird written by J.M. Barrie. Peter Pan is a week old baby that flies out a window of his mother's house to play with fairies and birds in Kensington Gardens. He never ages while he plays. Eventually, he tires of playing with the birds & fairies and returns home to his mother.
Only to find that she's had another child, and no longer recognizes him.
Then some real life shit that's super creepy happens involving his neighbors kids and him adopting them. Most of the pirates and Lost Boys were based on stories he told them as kids.
Then he wrote the play in like 1904, it was very popular. Then he turned it into a book called Peter and Wendy. Which is what Disney bought the rights to, and turned into their version of Peter Pan.
In the book, there's no sense of death. The pirates and the Lost Boys that Peter kills with his wooden sword fall as if they are pretending to be dead, ready to jump up and start playing again a moment later. He's a boy on an endless summer adventure with his friends.
It's game logic.
When you make the story of Peter into literal logic, it becomes sad and tragic. A boy looking for friends, but never can keep them, and he's eternally in search of a mother. A mother that will betray him by growing up herself and becoming a woman (with her own children). His friends will always leave him.
One of the first movies I remember realizing was an adaption of Peter Pan was the 80s movie Lost Boys. (I mean, it's right there in the title). The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are about a Lost Boy- Peter Quill is a Lost Boy. Peter Pan is EGO. And Wendy is Yondu.
When you're a kid Peter Pan is fun. He's a boy on a summer adventure with friends. The villains are clear. And mom is there to help you when you need it.
As an adult, Peter is a deeply wounded child trying to play away the pain. He's always in search of a distraction, anything to forget the pain he carries with him. He's a boy that wants his mommy to make it all better.
And it never can be.
