Comments
Over the course of his decades-long career, Hugh Jackman has portrayed several iconic roles. He’s best known for playing Wolverine in several X-Men movies, but he’s also wowed audiences as magician Robert Angier in The Prestige, Frenchman Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, and grieving father Keller Dover in Prisoners. Jackman’s filmography is so stacked with memorable performances that he’s had his fair share of projects fall by the wayside. Fans may have forgotten that Jackman played Blackbeard in 2015’s Pan, director Joe Wright’s Peter Pan prequel. Over a decade later, Jackman’s turn has gone viral, with people calling attention to one of the film’s most baffling scenes.
On X, user @_TheSmartAlec1 posted a clip from Pan, asking if anyone else remembered the part where Blackbeard and his fellow pirates inexplicably sing a rendition of Nirvana’s classic song “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The sequence sounds made up, but it’s a real scene in the film. You can check out the clip in the space below. As of this writing, the tweet has 4K retweets, 69K likes, and 870 replies, so other X users are enjoying what they’re seeing:
Does anyone remember the Peter Pan movie where Hugh Jackman as Not-Captain Hook and his goons sang Smells Like Teen Spirit for some reason pic.twitter.com/Ui8OjdskJp
— 🕷️Smart Alec🕸️ (@_TheSmartAlec1) July 6, 2026
Why Does Blackbeard Sing Nirvana in Pan?
It should be clear why people found this scene in Pan to be a bit strange. The bulk of the film’s story takes place in 1940, well before Nirvana’s time. Frontman Kurt Cobain wasn’t even born until 1967, and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was released in 1991. Anachronisms are common in movies, but this one stood out more than most due to the execution. It would have been one thing if the original Nirvana recording had been used as a needle drop to inject some rock and roll energy into a set piece, but in Pan, it’s diegetic. The characters themselves are singing the song in-universe, raising questions about how, exactly, Blackbeard and his band of pirates found out about the song.
In the replies to the tweet, one person posits that Blackbeard “captures children from all time periods” because Neverland “is beyond the fabric of time,” essentially implying that Blackbeard and his crew went to the 1990s and heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” enough to incorporate it into their mining operation. That’s a fascinating idea, but Joe Wright shed light on the decision shortly after the film’s release (via HuffPost). According to him, the Nirvana number wasn’t in the original script. He got the idea to include the song in Pan after a day of a “pirate boot camp” that was put together so all the actors playing pirates could get to know each other. “We were playing music, one day that song came on, everyone started singing, pogoing, and here we are,” Wright said. There seemingly isn’t anything deeper to it than it just being an instance of taking artistic liberties.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” isn’t the only alternative rock staple that found its way into Pan. The film also includes a sequence where the miners sing parts of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” which was released in 1976. It seems Wright had a very specific idea for the tone he wanted to set with his song choices, attempting to give Pan a free-wheeling feel. The approach was unorthodox, but if you can suspend your disbelief enough, the sequence isn’t without merit. Jackman is clearly having fun sinking his teeth into a devious villain role, and the costume and production designs are eye-catching.
Unfortunately, Nirvana, the Ramones, and Hugh Jackman weren’t enough to make Pan a hit. The film was widely panned (27% on Rotten Tomatoes) and bombed at the box office, grossing $128.9 million worldwide against a $150 million production budget. If there were plans for any follow-ups, franchise hopes were dashed in the aftermath of that performance. While Pan didn’t fully work as a film, the scene of Hugh Jackman’s Blackbeard singing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” will continue to entertain — as long as people remember it.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the Forum!
Hugh Jackman’s Adaptation of a 143-Year-Old Adventure Book Has a Big Challenge Beating These 3 Movies
