Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Peter Pan & WendyDisney's new live-action Peter Pan & Wendy gives Captain Hook a completely new backstory. The iconic pirate villain of J.M. Barrie's original Peter and Wendy, named Captain James Hook, is bent on killing Peter Pan because Peter cut off his hand and fed it to the crocodile. Barrie also says Hook worked for Blackbeard and was the only man Long John Silver was afraid of. In the play, it's implied Hook went to Eton College and Balliol College.
Many Peter Pan adaptations don't explain Hook's history beyond his feud with Peter. Peter Pan & Wendy decided to not only ignore Hook's supposed connections to famous pirates and colleges, but contradict them entirely. In so doing, it gives Captain Hook a backstory that further explains why he hates Peter Pan.
Captain Hook's Peter Pan & Wendy Backstory Explained
Rather than hailing from the Golden Age of Piracy, Peter Pan & Wendy's Captain Hook was a boy in Neverland with Peter. Peter Pan & Wendy doesn't explain when and where exactly Hook came from, but he likely decided he didn't want to grow up, prompting Peter to take him to Neverland. Because Peter was a kid in the same house as Wendy, he and Hook can't be hundreds of years old—probably a century at most.
Peter and Hook, a.k.a. James, were best friends in Neverland until James said he missed his mother. At this, Peter got angry, apparently feeling that he should be enough family for James, and still feeling resentment for his own mother. Hook claims Peter "banished" him, while Peter says he just left. Hook tried to sail away from Neverland, but didn't make it home. Mr. Smee rescued him at sea—apparently back in the non-Neverland world. Hook was then raised by pirates into adulthood, at which point he became captain and took them back to Neverland to face Peter.
How Captain Hook's Backstory Changed Compared To The Original Disney Movie
Peter Pan & Wendy's Captain Hook is a stark contrast to Disney's original animated Captain Hook in the 1953 Peter Pan. The animated character voiced by Hans Conried is a one-dimensional caricature of a villain. He has no backstory beyond the story of Peter cutting off his hand, and he learns no lesson over the course of the film. He just exists to be a bad guy, which is all the animated film needed. Jude Law's Captain Hook in Peter Pan & Wendy is a rounded, more sympathetic character who develops and learns from his mistakes. His story also supports the stories of Peter and Wendy, making him a much more compelling addition to the movie.