Horror 'Avengers'? Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, more to unite in slasher crossover 'Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble'
Ever wondered what an Avengers-esque horror film would be like?
The filmmakers behind Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, the slasher film based on the iconic yellow bear of the same name, have announced that they are set to make a crossover movie bringing together other beloved children’s characters that have entered the public domain.
In a report by Variety, the so-called "Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble" will see the likes of Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, The Mad Hatter, and Sleeping Beauty working together with Winnie the Pooh to cause mayhem and bloodshed.
The first official poster for the ambitious crossover has also been released, which shows the nightmarish versions of the characters with Winnie the Pooh riding on a ferocious-looking Bambi placed front and center.
Everything is leading to this.. POONIVERSE: MONSTERS ASSEMBLE hits theatres 2025 pic.twitter.com/osco2W8lfw
— Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (@poohbandh) March 18, 2024
"As horror fans, we would love an Avengers that is all villains," explained actor-producer Scott Chambers, who leads Jagged Edge Productions. "It’d have Freddy Krueger, Jason, Halloween, Scream, all of those. Obviously, that will never happen, but we can make it happen in our own little way, and that’s where this film has been born."
Some of the characters who will appear in Poohniverse will first star in their own standalone films coming this year before they'll unite in a shared universe dubbed as "The Twisted Childhood Universe," similar to how Marvel did with its own superhero characters.
The films announced so far include Bambi: The Reckoning, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Pinocchio Unstrung.
Jagged Edge Productions will also release a sequel to their Winnie the Pooh horror film on March 26, which will introduce Tigger and Owl. Rhys Jake-Waterfield, who directed the films, will helm Poohniverse.
"We’ve got access to all these concepts so it’s like a self-contained bubble and we can do what we want with them," he said.
With regards to its plot, Chambers said that while the monsters will team up against the survivors of the previous films, there will be "carnage within the group" and "epic sequences of monster vs. monster."
Poohniverse comes as the characters have now started to enter the public domain, meaning anyone is allowed to create their original interpretations of the childhood icons and use them in any creative work.
The crossover is slated to have a 2025 release.