Board Thread:Fanon: Season 8 & Beyond/@comment-25551215-20191204022821/@comment-25551215-20191206003331

Once Upon a Time's New Boss Spills the Tea on Season 8

The revival of Once Upon a Time on Disney+ for Oncers around the world, and we here at Fandom aren't any exception. Along with last night's quiet reveal of the first episode title ("Unfinished Business") was the just as quiet reveal of the new showrunner, Hugo Schriftsteller, who's excited to hit the ball running with the eighth season and hopes that it'll live up to the previous seven seasons.

The first big change he's confirmed is the format of the season; it will be comprised of fourteen seventy-five minute episodes, airing a week apart from each other on Disney's new streaming service.

"Airing less episodes which are longer will hopefully allow the plot of each episode to be fleshed out more and avoid rushing, while also keep the season's storyline from being strecthed out too long."

When asked about the series' regulars, he remained coy, but he did confirm that at least one guest star from a previous season would be promoted to regular status. He also confirmed the return of the fabulous Mekia Cox (Princess Tiana) as a series regular, teasing that her role in the series would be different and that she would have an interesting dynamic with Rogers. Unfortunately, three regulars from last season – Andrew J. West (Henry Mills), Alison Fernandez (Lucy), and Dania Ramirez (Cinderella/Jacinda) won't be part of the main cast - though future guest appearances weren't ruled out. Robert Carlyle, whose character died in the series finale, will also not be returning.

This isn't to say that the cast won't have as interesting an dynamic as they did in Season 7; the three newcomers,, , and , aren't unfamiliar faces. While none of them have ever appeared on the series (save for one of them, who apparently made a cameo in an earlier season), each of them brings something new to the table, and all of them will have interactions with the cast – but interestingly, none of them will have met this year's main cast, including Lana Parrilla's Evil Queen, who seems to have met everyone from Ariel to Dr. Facilier.

As for recurring characters, Alice and Robin will be in a very happy place when we meet them, we'll find out why Gideon never showed up in Hyperion Heights, and Rebecca Mader's Zelena will provide comic relief – as well as support for Regina. They're also joined by familiar faces such as Emma Caulfield's Blind Witch and Sam Witwer's Mr. Hyde, who are only some of the old faces coming back for the new season. They'll also be joined by newcomers such as Sean Bean's, who probably isn't who you think he is, (who is, as we've been told, already cast), who will be a major wild card this season, and the mysterious Shadow Raven, who will terrorize the people of the United Realms.

Finally, he revealed a few tidbits about the season. First off is another LGBT+ storyline – and this time, it's a retelling of a classic that we've all heard of. We're also going to see realms we haven't seen in a long time, including the Underworld and Victorian England. The season also contains unexpected twists and allusions, though it won't really be featuring any new Disney movie characters – though characters from the parks haven't been ruled out. The heroes will also be facing the Reckoning – but you'll have to tune in when the show starts to find out what that even is. And last but not least, Once will once again be twisting and turning all of your favorite stories – but this season will hearken back more to the classic literature that put everyone to sleep back in high school. (No, there will not be a Sleeping Beauty or Rip van Winkle tie-in). And while there won't be any Dark Curses or memory wipes (thank goodness for small favors) this season, the time jump between the series finale and the season premiere will be quite noticeable.

We're excited to see what this new season will bring. Check out Once Upon a Time's thrilling eighth season when it premieres on Disney+.

EDIT: While we don't yet know if this means anything, Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas were recently spotted in Vancouver.