Barrie source material. Yara Shahidi, a Black actress, was cast as Tinker Bell—the first such portrayal of the traditionally depicted fairy—prompting explicit backlash over the race swap. The Lost Boys group was expanded to include girls, directly retconning Barrie's line that girls are "much too clever to fall out of their prams," with on-screen dialogue addressing the change.

Tiger Lily, played by Cree actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk, receives an expanded role that incorporates Cree language and reframes the character to counter original racist stereotypes. The title shift to emphasize Wendy further aligns with modern gender-focused framing. These elements influence casting, subplots, and character arcs without making identity politics the core premise, which remains a fantasy adventure of Neverland and growing up. Audience reception showed clear rejection, with scores as low as 13% and 4.2 on IMDb amid widespread "woke" criticism, while the director publicly addressed the Lost Boys controversy.