The Adversary was going to be...(Fables)

[edhopper]

(Spoilers)

I posted this in another older Fables thread, but I don't know if anyone saw it.

In an interview in this month's Comic Buyers Guide, BW revealed that the Adversary was originally going to be Peter Pan. But they ran into some British copyright problems. So he changed it to Gepetto. He thinks it is actually a better choice. But I really like the Pan idea. Gepetto makes a better "puppet king" ruler of the Homelands. But Pan would be the better adversary in battle.
It definitely would have made a different story.

[Generic Eric]

I liked how the story turned out. Maybe Peter Pan can be used as an interesting character down the line now. If alan Moore can use Peter Pan I don't see what's stopping using him now as a differant type of villian.

[rwe1138]

Before The Aversary was revealed as Gepetto, I always thought it would be really cool for it to be Sauron from Lord of the Rings. I knew it couldn't, because of rights issues, but that's who all the descriptions led me to.

[Rob on the Job]

I think the idea of a mature Peter Pan was pretty used up with the movie "Hook."

I'm glad Gepetto was the Adversary; not only is Gepetto a relatively well-known but little used character in fairy tales, but the origin of how he created doppelgangers makes complete sense.

Even better, no one in the Homelands realized this simple woodcarver was the power behind the throne. I think it would have been tough for Mr. Pan to keep a similarly low profile.

[snarkbunny]

I think the idea of a mature Peter Pan was pretty used up with the movie "Hook."


Actually, I thought Willingham's idea of Hook being a police officer who was chasing Pan was interesting. He discussed it briefly in a Suicide Girls (http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Bill+Willingham/) interview

[Dr. Killbydeath]

That would actually make far more sense. Considering he is a great strategist, has an ambiguous moral code and sees everything as a game.

I guess it's neither here nor there at this point though.

[Apathy Boy]

I did find the idea of Gepetto as the Adversary kind of anti-climactic (though the story where the revelation occurred was quite kick-ass). Just because Gepetto was a bit of a minor character, and because he's... well, an old guy. Not the most imposing figure for a big bad.

I was hoping the Adversary would be Mickey Mouse, though I knew it wouldn't happen. Peter Pan would've been good too.

[Dr. Killbydeath]

I don't see it as anti-climactic, just more of a stretch. It works on an emotional and storytelling level. The only problem is the stretch of the character that we know into the Fables verion, but that isn't really a problem, considering other characters like Bigby, Charming and Cinderella, who are all significantly different from their original characters.

Mickey Mouse would only work as a gag. I mean it's funny enough, but once you unveil him, you really have no place to go with the story.

[edhopper]

I think the idea of a mature Peter Pan was pretty used up with the movie "Hook."

I'm glad Gepetto was the Adversary; not only is Gepetto a relatively well-known but little used character in fairy tales, but the origin of how he created doppelgangers makes complete sense.

Even better, no one in the Homelands realized this simple woodcarver was the power behind the throne. I think it would have been tough for Mr. Pan to keep a similarly low profile.


I think Robin William's Pan in "Hook", was just one, unlikely portrayal of a mature Pan. He was a Peter who left Neverland and rejected his youthful adventures. And then re-found his playful side.
A Fables Pan would be a Pan who grew up in Neverland and let probably never outgrew his delight in being the king of the hill. Only his playful fighting with Hook turns dark and deadly.
Very, very different and not at all used up.

[Dr. Killbydeath]

I don't see why it would have been a grown up Pan. To me it would make more sense if he were still a kid.

[Rob on the Job]

I understand the points being raised by the pro-Pan crowd, and to a point I agree.

It's just that Pan is a much better-known character whose familiarity --to me -- had bred some contempt.

Gepetto was a tabula rosa who offered few preconceptions and therefore could be twisted into form. I apreciate the startling disparity betweeen kindly old woodcarver and murderous tyrant.

And as a man firmly ensconced in middle age, I squirm at your assertions that Gepetto was "too old" to be a major villain.

[Adem]

Now I want to see Peter Pan as a villain in Fables. Maybe as a wild card who plays both sides and just sees it all as a game.

[Rob on the Job]

Now I want to see Peter Pan as a villain in Fables. Maybe as a wild card who plays both sides and just sees it all as a game.

That would be a more interesting take than Pan as just a villain or as a good guy ... but as a kind of self-serving anti-hero. I think that would be an interesting take.

I wonder where First Mate Smee would fit in all this.

[Dr. Killbydeath]

I wonder where First Mate Smee would fit in all this.

Clearly he's the one pulling all the ropes (even now with Gepetto).


To me Peter Pan can be even more Tabula Rasa than Gepetto, because he's been portrayed so many ways in the media. Gepetto has one or two well known version, so anything you do with him is different, but you can take aspects of Pan from different places and make him feel like a natural version that we could have grown up with. I mean he's had a tv show, like 4 movies and all sorts of books.

[Smokeyjay]

Gepetto makes more sense in terms of capability of conquering the homelands, but I did find it anti-climatic because he was a minor character.

I would have preferred an adult version of Peter Pan, because Peter Pan is often portrayed as a screwed up little boy within the psychiatric field. Like a Micheal Jackson character who refuses to grow up. Maybe Peter Pan becomes deranged with the harsh realities of becoming an adult?

[Rob on the Job]

The Peter Pan "what if?" speculation is interesting, but sadly it will never come to pass -- not as long as Pan is a money-making, hospital-owned copyright in England.

Perhaps there is a Pan-like legend to be found among the African and Native American traditions ...

[Dr. Killbydeath]

Pan is pretty capable. I mean he constantly beats pirates with a troop of like 10 kids. That's pretty impressive.

[snarkbunny]

I like Gepetto as the Adversary, and I think the way he ended up there is far more interesting than the classic meglomaniac villain. G is a nasty old man, who loves his children, and rules an empire which from what I have seen is no worse than Rome. I like multi-dimensional "villians".

[gaudium]

If I'm remembering right, the Adversary was referred to as an "elf" with an appropriately elfin shadow shown looming over the Homelands in an issue long ago -- it didn't occur to me that it was Peter Pan, I was thinking Santa or Puck...

[ultramandingo]

.......i woulda gone with walt dizneys frozed head, Adversary-wise. talk about EVIL