Perpetual good guy Will Smith reportedly passed on playing bad guy Captain Hook in Disney’s new live-action Peter Pan & Wendy. Created by novelist J.M. Barrie, the perpetual child Peter Pan first appeared in 1902, and later made his film debut in a 1924 silent.

But of course, the most important movie adaptation of Peter Pan came along in 1953, when Disney adapted Barrie’s work as an animated film that went on to be considered a classic. In 1954, Barrie’s work Peter and Wendy became a famous stage musical starring Mary Martin as the titular Peter (it has been revived many times since 1954, and was of course presented live on television in 2014 with Alison Williams as Peter Pan). Now, Disney itself is set to revisit Peter Pan with a live-action adaptation starring Ever Anderson as Wendy and Alexander Mollony as Peter. It was just revealed that Jude Law is in talks to play the movie’s villain, the evil Captain Hook.

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As it turns out, Disney considered several other actors to play Hook in their new version of Peter Pan, including Smith. Variety reporter Justin Kroll, who broke the news about Law being cast as Hook, tweeted about Smith’s decision to pass on the role after playing the genie in Disney’s recent live-action adaptation of Aladdin.

The character of Captain Hook, a pirate who loses his hand in a sword fight with Peter, is of course central to any Peter Pan story. The 1953 animated film had a comical version of Hook as its main villain, and Hook later even received top billing in Steven Spielberg’s 1991 movie Hook starring Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams. Other notable actors who’ve played Hook either on the stage or on screen include Boris Karloff, Jason Isaacs and Tim Curry.

Given the villainous nature of Captain Hook, the ever-mysterious Law certainly sounds like a good fit to tackle the role in the new Disney adaptation. Smith on the other hand seems like a less obvious fit, as he’s not an actor known for taking on anything but strict good guy roles. Indeed, Smith’s role as the anti-heroic Deadshot in Suicide Squad is probably the closest he’s ever come to being a bad guy. Had Smith tackled Hook, it definitely would’ve represented a huge departure from his previous roles, but that’s obviously not a challenge Smith was interested in taking on at this time.

Of course, there are many who would argue that Smith has tried a little too hard to protect his image over the course of his career, and would now benefit from dropping the good guy act and finally playing a bad guy. Evidently, the character of Captain Hook in Peter Pan & Wendy was a little too villainous for Smith, who ultimately elected to pass on the role, leaving it open for Law, a man who is definitely not afraid of playing sinister and evil characters on-screen. Smith’s interpretation of Hook would’ve definitely been interesting, but it also might have been jarring to audiences to see the perpetual good guy playing so classic a villain (even in a Disney movie that will no doubt tone down the character's darker aspects).

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Source: Justin Kroll/Twitter