Board Thread:Fanon: Season 8 & Beyond/@comment-25551215-20191204022821/@comment-25551215-20191208172655

A is for All the Once Upon a Time Tea Spilled at SDCC

Disney+'s revival of Once Upon a Time just held its SDCC panel, with showrunner ONCEFanandHappyHippo, Lana Parrilla, Colin O'Donoghue, Megan Fox, Rose Reynolds, Tiera Skovbye, and Rebecca Mader showing up. We learned a lot about the upcoming – including some of the new and returning cast, upcoming storylines, plus a trailer that will be released in a while – and two scenes we got to watch but can't spoil. Here's some of the big highlights: We were also treated to two scenes, the opening scene and another scene featuring two of the new characters. While we can't spoil much from them, we can confirm that Regina and Zelena get to team up right from the beginning, and that the main cast includes two v
 * The new regulars: All of the season's regulars were revealed at SDCC – and the biggest one was the announcement of Megan Fox as (formerly known as Rose). She – as well as her story, Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel The Scarlet Letter, will be featured prominently in the season's plotline. The other two regulars,  and, have not been officially named – but they have been cast alongside a tiny spoiler that might help guess their identities. Anthony Turpel (The Bold and the Beautiful, No Good Nick) and Lucas Jade Zumann (20th Century Women, Sinister 2) have been cast as them, respectively. They, along with Zendaya's , will be Shakespearean characters – whose identities will be "fairly obvious" once the second episode's title is released, but unconfirmed until the premiere. Tiera Skovbye and Rose Reynolds have also been promoted to the main cast, and they'll have "a quite different dynamic, both with each other and with the rest of the cast".
 * New guest stars: Along with the announcement of Megan Fox's casting comes the announcement of Sean Bean's character, now confirmed to be Hester's cruel husband . How he'll affect the plot, we have no idea. Also announced is Zach Roerig, who has been cast as, and will be one of the biggest wild cards this season. Andrew J. West is slated for a return as Henry Mills, with Alison Fernandez and Dania Ramirez following him. No other guest stars were announced (besides the special guest stars – more on that coming up), but promises were made that more iconic characters from the show's past would be returning.
 * The showrunner also confirmed the returns of Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, and Jared S. Gilmore to the cast, joining Rebecca Mader as special guest stars. All four are expected to make multiple appearances throughout the season, though Mader will have the highest episode count of the quartet. Mader's appearances won't entail a centric (with season 8 being the first season with Zelena that lacks a Zelena-centric episode) – but she'll be appearing quite often nonetheless.
 * The season's villain and arc: The season will have one arc, boasting one vile villain – though this villain will have a twist that'll be revealed later on. The Shadow Raven will be a dangerous and terrifying magical foe that is syphoning magic for some dark purpose – though everything we know about them has been left... in the shadows. The arc involves facing the past, with season 6's Land of Untold Stories arc making a comeback as the fallout of the uniting of the realms rears its head. This doesn't come on the heels of the series finale's curse, though – the Shadow Raven only begins to enact their devilish plot after the six year time skip.
 * Hugo Schriftsteller on Season 8: "The scale of the eighth season is much smaller in some aspects in season 7," Schriftseller says. "We're not facing another curse, or more lost memories, but that doesn't make the Shadow Raven any better of a problem. The entire arc is going to challenge Regina, especially as she finds that this is something that she has to do with others. That's not going to stop her from trying to fix it by herself, and that's what's going to challenge her come the season finale. It's also fourteen episodes, so things are going to fly by quickly. I'm excited for everyone to see how things go, especially as Regina's Reckoning approaches."
 * Tiera Skovbye and Rose Reynolds on MadArcher: "Alice and Robin have an interesting arc this season. We're going to see that there was a major development in their relationship in the time jump, and we're going to see how that development affects their relationship in the new season going forward," Skovbye says. Reynolds adds, "Like the rest of the regulars this season, Alice and Robin don't have their big centric episode until the second half, which focuses more on the old characters as opposed to the new characters that the first half focuses on, but they're not unimportant. They go around with Rogers and Tiana and they do their own thing that intersects with the rest of the plotline. They also get to go to a place in the Land of Untold Stories that's connected to one of the episodes from last season, and it's really fun."
 * Lana Parrilla on Regina and her development: "Regina's arc this season is something we've never seen for her before. She's got her second chance, she's got everything she ever wanted, and that's made her leave her guard down. She's used to the calmness, so when the action starts, it takes her by surprise. And that's going to leave room for errors. We're going to see that she's only going to call on a few allies at the beginning, and that's going to bite her – especially towards the close of the season."
 * Colin O'Donoghue and Mekia Cox on what Tiana and Hook are up to: "We see that Rogers and Sabine are a funny little team," Cox laughs. "They kinda have a buddy dynamic in which they confide in each other and they partner up for everything. And sadly, while we don't see how that forms, their little team up is invaluable for the heroes. As for Naveen, he doesn't show up much, but rest assured he and Tiana are fine." Cox looks to O'Donoghue, who adds, "Hook also has a really cute dynamic with his daughter, and we're going to see that fleshed out more now that he doesn't have a poisoned heart. I'm excited to see how the season progresses."
 * Megan Fox on Hester, The Scarlet Letter, and the Shadow Raven storyline: "First of all, I'm really excited to be on this show playing such an iconic literary character. I'm playing Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter, who we saw back in Season Six. She returns to the Land of Untold Stories when the Shadow Raven shows up, and we're going to see that she has a very troubled past with Chillingworth and a connection to Snow White and Prince Charming. She's also pretty pivotal to the plot; without her, they wouldn't have some of the clues they get about the Raven. There's also an episode in the season that's the Once retelling of the novel, and in true Once fashion, you won't see it coming." Fox adds, "I'm really excited for everyone to see this season." She made no indication as to whether or not anyone else from The Scarlet Letter would be showing up.
 * Rebecca Mader on the return of the fabulously wicked Zelena: "I'm so glad to be back. I love being Zelena. It's helped me grow as a person more, and I'm really excited for what the writers have in store for her. We're going to get to see her relationships with Regina and Robin grow, and the biggest thing about her this season is that she's one of Regina's most reliable allies. If I recall correctly, we find out right off the bat that Emma, Henry, the Charmings, et cetera, aren't exactly able to help for one reason or another. And that's when Zelena steps up."
 * Final teasers about the season: "I'm so excited for this season," head writer Schriftseller enthuses. "Season Eight's storyline is a throwback to Season Six's Land of Untold Stories arc, and we're really going to explore that realm, and why it relies on science instead of magic. Our villain is hopefully someone you won't see coming, and how the plot unfolds is hopefully also something no one sees coming. We've been in talks with Disney for a ninth season, and what season eight is doing is building up towards something massive. It's really going to change the world of Once forever, and I can't wait to explore that going forward. We've got plans for the next few seasons or so, but for season eight, we're really going to establish that the original seven seasons were only just the beginning. We're in for a wild ride."

A is for All the Once Upon a Time Tea Spilled at SDCC Disney+'s revival of Once Upon a Time'' just held its SDCC panel, with showrunner ONCEFanandHappyHippo, Lana Parrilla, Colin O'Donoghue, Megan Fox, Rose Reynolds, Tiera Skovbye, and Rebecca Mader showing up. We learned a lot about the upcoming – including some of the new and returning cast, upcoming storylines, plus a trailer that will be released in a while – and two scenes we got to watch but can't spoil. Here's some of the big highlights:''
 * The new regulars: All of the season's regulars were revealed at SDCC – and the biggest one was the announcement of Megan Fox as (formerly known as Rose). She – as well as her story, Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel The Scarlet Letter, will be featured prominently in the season's plotline. The other two regulars,  and, have not been officially named – but they have been cast alongside a tiny spoiler that might help guess their identities. Anthony Turpel (The Bold and the Beautiful, No Good Nick) and Lucas Jade Zumann (20th Century Women, Sinister 2) have been cast as them, respectively. They, along with Zendaya's , will be Shakespearean characters – whose identities will be "fairly obvious" once the second episode's title is released, but unconfirmed until the premiere. Tiera Skovbye and Rose Reynolds have also been promoted to the main cast, and they'll have "a quite different dynamic, both with each other and with the rest of the cast".
 * New guest stars: Along with the announcement of Megan Fox's casting comes the announcement of Sean Bean's character, now confirmed to be Hester's cruel husband . How he'll affect the plot, we have no idea. Also announced is Zach Roerig, who has been cast as, and will be one of the biggest wild cards this season. Andrew J. West is slated for a return as Henry Mills, with Alison Fernandez and Dania Ramirez following him. No other guest stars were announced (besides the special guest stars – more on that coming up), but promises were made that more iconic characters from the show's past would be returning.
 * The showrunner also confirmed the returns of Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, and Jared S. Gilmore to the cast, joining Rebecca Mader as special guest stars. All four are expected to make multiple appearances throughout the season, though Mader will have the highest episode count of the quartet. Mader's appearances won't entail a centric (with season 8 being the first season with Zelena that lacks a Zelena-centric episode) – but she'll be appearing quite often nonetheless.
 * The season's villain and arc: The season will have one arc, boasting one vile villain – though this villain will have a twist that'll be revealed later on. The Shadow Raven will be a dangerous and terrifying magical foe that is syphoning magic for some dark purpose – though everything we know about them has been left... in the shadows. The arc involves facing the past, with season 6's Land of Untold Stories arc making a comeback as the fallout of the uniting of the realms rears its head. This doesn't come on the heels of the series finale's curse, though – the Shadow Raven only begins to enact their devilish plot after the six year time skip.
 * Hugo Schriftsteller on Season 8: "The scale of the eighth season is much smaller in some aspects in season 7," Schriftseller says. "We're not facing another curse, or more lost memories, but that doesn't make the Shadow Raven any better of a problem. The entire arc is going to challenge Regina, especially as she finds that this is something that she has to do with others. That's not going to stop her from trying to fix it by herself, and that's what's going to challenge her come the season finale. It's also fourteen episodes, so things are going to fly by quickly. I'm excited for everyone to see how things go, especially as Regina's Reckoning approaches."
 * Tiera Skovbye and Rose Reynolds on MadArcher: "Alice and Robin have an interesting arc this season. We're going to see that there was a major development in their relationship in the time jump, and we're going to see how that development affects their relationship in the new season going forward," Skovbye says. Reynolds adds, "Like the rest of the regulars this season, Alice and Robin don't have their big centric episode until the second half, which focuses more on the old characters as opposed to the new characters that the first half focuses on, but they're not unimportant. They go around with Rogers and Tiana and they do their own thing that intersects with the rest of the plotline. They also get to go to a place in the Land of Untold Stories that's connected to one of the episodes from last season, and it's really fun."
 * Lana Parrilla on Regina and her development: "Regina's arc this season is something we've never seen for her before. She's got her second chance, she's got everything she ever wanted, and that's made her leave her guard down. She's used to the calmness, so when the action starts, it takes her by surprise. And that's going to leave room for errors. We're going to see that she's only going to call on a few allies at the beginning, and that's going to bite her – especially towards the close of the season."
 * Colin O'Donoghue and Mekia Cox on what Tiana and Hook are up to: "We see that Rogers and Sabine are a funny little team," Cox laughs. "They kinda have a buddy dynamic in which they confide in each other and they partner up for everything. And sadly, while we don't see how that forms, their little team up is invaluable for the heroes. As for Naveen, he doesn't show up much, but rest assured he and Tiana are fine." Cox looks to O'Donoghue, who adds, "Hook also has a really cute dynamic with his daughter, and we're going to see that fleshed out more now that he doesn't have a poisoned heart. I'm excited to see how the season progresses."
 * Megan Fox on Hester, The Scarlet Letter, and the Shadow Raven storyline: "First of all, I'm really excited to be on this show playing such an iconic literary character. I'm playing Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter, who we saw back in Season Six. She returns to the Land of Untold Stories when the Shadow Raven shows up, and we're going to see that she has a very troubled past with Chillingworth and a connection to Snow White and Prince Charming. She's also pretty pivotal to the plot; without her, they wouldn't have some of the clues they get about the Raven. There's also an episode in the season that's the Once retelling of the novel, and in true Once fashion, you won't see it coming." Fox adds, "I'm really excited for everyone to see this season." She made no indication as to whether or not anyone else from The Scarlet Letter would be showing up.
 * Rebecca Mader on the return of the fabulously wicked Zelena: "I'm so glad to be back. I love being Zelena. It's helped me grow as a person more, and I'm really excited for what the writers have in store for her. We're going to get to see her relationships with Regina and Robin grow, and the biggest thing about her this season is that she's one of Regina's most reliable allies. If I recall correctly, we find out right off the bat that Emma, Henry, the Charmings, et cetera, aren't exactly able to help for one reason or another. And that's when Zelena steps up."
 * A few small teasers for Season 8:
 * No returning characters other than the regulars and Zelena have a centric; Zelena's centric is episode five, and it's shared.
 * Season 9 is being planned, and Season 8 will build towards a massive gamechanger, with its ramifications and fallout being explored.
 * Additionally, the Season 8 finale episode will be aptly titled with a reference to Season 9 that will be easy to decode.
 * There's no word on if Rumbelle will return, but with Giles Matthey's Gideon making an appearance, it's "not out of the question".
 * There will be callbacks primarily to Seasons 5, 6, and 7.
 * Expect allusions to and retellings of classic literature, but also one lesser-known Disney film.
 * Two iconic literary characters will be making their Once début.
 * Regina and Zelena get to team up right from the opening scene.
 * Last but not least, we will see an adaptation of a classic Disney Parks attraction – and no, it isn't "it's a small world".

The trailer will be released soon.