Once Upon a Time Season 7: Get Fresh Details on Henry’s ‘Epic Quest’ — Plus, New Identities for Regina & Co.?!
In announcing Once Upon a Time‘s new time slot for Season 7 — where it will lead off Fridays at 8/7c (leading into Marvel’s Inhumans) — ABC also let slip new details about the set-up for this narrative “reset,” which revolves around a grown-up Henry (played by The Walking Dead‘s Andrew J. West) and his daughter Lucy (Jane the Virgin‘s Alison Fernandez).
Here is the sum total of what ABC revealed:
After six seasons, the residents of the Enchanted Forest face their greatest challenge yet as The Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla), Captain Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) and Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) join forces with a grown-up Henry Mills and his daughter Lucy on an epic quest to once again bring hope to their world and ours. Along the way, fairy tale characters new and old search for true love, find adventure and once again take sides in the struggle of good against evil, as classic tales are once more twisted and reimagined.
UPDATE: On Tuesday afternoon at ABC’s Upfront presentation, ABC entertainment chief Channing Dungey touted Season 7 as a “reboot,” revealing that Hook, the Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin “return but with new identities in a new city, facing a new curse.”
Explaining the series’ move to Friday, Dungey said on Tuesday morning, “Once Upon a Time has done a wonderful job on Sundays of sort of ‘keeping the lights on’ against football [on NBC and CBS], but we’re really looking to see how that show will perform when it’s away from football for a little while.”
In the wake of a half-dozen major exits — including series lead Jennifer Morrison — Once Upon a Time Season 7 will run 22 episodes and count Parrilla, O’Donoghue, West, Fernandez and Carlyle among its series regulars.
Was a full 22 episode season confirmed?
Yep, by me.
Oh I did not remember and I swear I read that article a thousand times looking for a confirmation lol thanks for the reply! So happy :)
I confirmed it just minutes ago with the head of ABC.
Ahh so I’m not crazy lol
It sounds like they will be out traveling the Realms. Maybe on the Jolly Roger?
Oooh, I hope so!! 🙂
They really should have ended the show withe the finale. It was great and tied up the loose ends.
They were so close to having me watching s7. Though they lost me when putting old along with new looking for true love. There are hardly any old characters left to be looking and i can’t watch one of those possibly looking for TL be Hook cause had that and seemed to get happy beginning with his TL. i mean i know Jen won’t be back so we won’t see Emma minus the premiere but still. Regina i could go for trying to find a new love.
There are so many excuses they could try for having Emma not be around besides killing her off. Personally, I’m betting Hook, Regina and Rumple are somehow sent to the future accidentally and they’re trying to get back home. Or maybe Emma goes missing and those three try to find her, and that’s how they’re sent to the future. Or she could even be turned into a swan and Lucy’s bringing Henry back to break the curse. There are six cast members leaving, they’re not gonna kill ALL of them off so why does this spell death for Emma? Adam and Eddy knew Jen was leaving in January, they wrote the finale in March. If they wanted to kill her off they would’ve done it last Sunday. I think it’s safe to say she’s safe. They’re not gonna have her come back from death in the finale, only to kill her off in the season premiere. Plus such a major death would never, ever be in a premiere. Especially one so risky.
Have you ever seen The Walking Dead?
Don’t think you can rarely compare a show about the zombie apocalypse with a show about fairy tales. And really, one of the TWD premiere deaths technically happened in the finale, they just didn’t show who it was.
The walking dead is a show about zombies. You could’ve just as easily said “Ever seen Game of Thrones?” And you’re comment would’ve been just as meaningless. Once has only had 3 major deaths in 6 years.
Um, it was in the comics. Were people really that shocked?
I’m guessing some epic quest to get back to their families. I mean, not only do we have Hook without Emma, but we have Rumple without Belle (and without his son). So…something has to have gone wrong there.
I don’t think a whole season of them trying (and failing) to find Emma would be interesting at all, especially when we KNOW Jen’s not going to do more than one ep.
PSA: Prince Charming was originally going to die, in the pilot episode.
You are aware that Henry counts as an “old character” who, by the very fact that he has a daughter, is going to have to have the story of how he met her mother told, right?
I was wondering if her mother was that cute little girl that Henry took on a date last season. I’m hoping so cause they were cute together.
It’s already been confirmed by show creators Adam and Eddie that Violet (Henry’s teenage girlfriend) is not Lucy’s mother. Violet was described as Henry’s first love.
their are a lot of old characters left. their just not series regulars… theirs been countless number of fairy tale characters on the show through the years. it could be any of them.
I wonder if we should be reading into the fact that they refer to them as “the Evil Queen” and “Rumplestiltskin,” instead of as “Regina” and “Mr. Gold.”
It’s probably how they promote the show saying the fairytale elements of the characters lol
Fair enough, potential new viewers would be more familiar with their fairy tale names than they would be with their Storybrooke names.
That caught my attention too.
Mmmm, that caught my attention too, I do hope they do not mean we won’t be getting Regina, Killian or Mr. Gold, I mean Gold is still evil if you will but I don’t want Regina and Killian playing their former evil selves, at least not all the time. I will watch the new season and hope it does well but it still feels very strange to have the show come back without Emma and the rest.
I love for them to write Colin O’Donoghue as Captain Hook/Killian Jones ;)
This show is gonna have such a big void, because Emma Swan is not there. She was lead/protagonist. I will miss her each week. Heroine of the show and one half of the most popular couple.
Does this mean we might get more of Ruby and Dorothy? August? Cinderella? And other characters that have been sidelined. Or are the actors all busy and that’s why we never saw much of them to begin with. Curious
these characters were never series regulars ONLY guest stars (so its not about sidelining them) if they fitted in a story thats it and if they were free for those overall too. It was never about them lol. And these actors find other work and so on, they only guests
* oh even though Ruby was a series regular i believe in season 1 (and season 2 maybe)… she kinda felt a recurring secondary character compared to Emma, Snow, Charming, Regina, Rumple and also Hook.
She was recurring in Season One and bumped up to regular in Season Two, which is apparently the kiss of death on this show. Look at Will being added as a regular in Season 4, then disappeared. Robin and Zelena were both added as regulars in Season 5, and Robin was killed that same season and now Zelena is not returning. Only Hook became a regular and stayed.
@brennan – Well Hook became a series regular before his first episode even aired. (The showrunners were impressed with Colin. And also Hook was a character they had wanted in/since season 1, but apparently did not get the rights in time, and waited till season 2)
@Val: I was talking about regulars added after season one, and he’s the only regular added in season two onwards to stay.
She was promoted to Series Regular in Season 2 where they set the precedent of promoting recurring characters only to majorly sideline them or kill them off entirely (See: Neal, Will, Robin)
I cant remember who will is
Will is Will Scarlet. He started on Once Upon A Time in Wonderland and was the only character from that show who later came to Once as a regular but they never did anything with him on Once. They never explained what happened to his love interest from Wonderland.
What does it matter that they were guest stars? They still count.
Will Scarlet, one of the Merry Men. He was also a male lead in the Alice in Wonderland series.
Hmmm, well my interest is piqued, I’ll give them that much…
I do wish they’d lay off the “epic” everything, I’ve not seen a lot of epic on Once in quite some time.
Multi talented.
This is a test of viewer loyalty. I do wish they would just announce it as the final season, but I have a feeling they’re still hoping it the reset will be a success but I’m sure deep down they’re doubtful. Maybe the lower standards for Friday nights will give us chances of an eight season after all, as long as the ratings stay steady?
I’m curious about season 7, but not overly optimistic. It feels like season 1, all over again, just different genders and timelines. The only advantage to jumping ahead several years, is that it gives the writers more creative writing opportunities. Desperate Housewives was very successful with their time jump as it reset not just the core characters, but their entire ensemble cast. The secret to their success was that their audience stayed loyal to their characters. Once is taking a huge risk by eliminating many of the core characters that the audience has come to grow and connect with. There are many people who will root for Regina, Hook, may be even a few for Henry. The problem is that people were rooting for their happiness which was connected to other characters: Robin, Emma, Belle (for Rumple fans). It’s hard to root for a character when you can see they will never truly be happy. The biggest problem is that season 6 was a perfect series finale. My question: how did you come back from that?
They should’ve left with that… Seems everyone their ending. Perfect ending
They want to see how it performs away from football? Sounds like those 22 eps will get cut pretty quick if it drops anywhere below what it’s doing right now.
I suspect they announce pretty quickly it’s ending with Season 7, so they can promote the mid season return as “the final episodes”.
If it was going to be the final season, it would have already been announced as such when they renewed it.
Also, contrary to what “live” ratings might suggest, the series remains incredibly popular, successful, and viable as a property of significance, and is likely to remain so.
Ratings it’s all that matters, not whenever fanfic writers love the show
Usually yes but Once has a 8 figure Netflix deal,international sales and merchandise to make money not just ad rates and networks now look to other factors besides ratings when deciding to cancel or renew a show
Not always.VD was renewed for s8 but it wasn’t til June/July and CC & cons that it was announced as the last season.SLOTAT& PLL werent announced as ending with the currently airing season til on midseason hiatues.
ABC could wait til CC or wait and see how it does in the fall and if it tanks announce at Winter TCas in Jan hakfway though the season that’s it’s the final season.
Revenge was announced that s4 was the last like 3 episodes before
Revenge was cancelled half a month before the finale. Galavant cancellation was also sudden
I would not comission more than 13 episodes ;) I devoted 6 years, but I’m done now.
No problem! OUAT Fridays. If I know where to find it, I will watch it! And so happy to hear we will have a full season of 22 episodes 😊!!💕
I’m not really sure why people are acting like OUaT getting a full season pick-up of 22 episodes is such a revelation, since every article I saw confirming the fact that it had been renewed for a seventh season a few days ago mentioned the fact that ABC had given it a full 22 episodes straight off the bat.
Some people might not have read the whole article and missed it or read it but missed it
Fair enough, I guess.
Regarding the new information from ABC’s President about a new Curse, I think it’s safe to assume that, although this might be the “status quo” when the season begins, it won’t remain so for very long.
I think people expected it to be short season ,given its low ratings,several cast departures,high cost( before s7 it’s reported that Once costs $4-4.5 million dollars a episode to make)& being moved to Fri,it’s age ect and Idol in March( though now that’ Once is on Fri it’s a non issue).
I honesty was a bit suprised it was a full season.
On one hand…not so sure about this. On the other hand, the snark and arguments between those three ought to be amazing.
Snark FTW
You know, I was a skeptic, absolutely LOVED the finale and am totally ready for the reboot. Let’s do this!
Good move, OUAT wasn’t working on Sundays anymore and that day is very difficult, because there are lots of popular shows airing that day and competing with it, Fridays is a more relaxed day and I think it can do better. Glad they show is returning and with 22 episodes.
I loved loved Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and was very sad to see it go off air. But then Once Upon a Time became my new favorite and I’m almost emotional seeing it end. I’m thrilled to see it still alive Albright a new spin on it with some of my favorite actors. Really going to miss Jennifer Goodwin and Jennifer Morrison, Jared Gilmore and Rebecca Mader.
New identities? I hadn’t even considered that, but it just might be the trick that makes the absence of Emma et al make sense. Could Colin, Lana, and Robert be playing entirely new characters? Unlikely based on the description that calls them Hook, the Evil Queen (not Regina?!) and Rumple. Or will they just not know that they’re really Hook, EQ, and Rumple because of a curse? Now I’m intrigued.
I was surprised no one else picked up on this. They won’t be the same people who were on the old seasons so they can date or hang out with anyone. Just the spirit of their characters will return. That is the only way this new season would work. If someone let go full time comes back it will be the same. They will be a new version not the ones from season 1-6. That story is over for good as it should be
If that’s true, how can they show Rumple’s past without Belle? unless it’s the fifteen year gap they will flashback to..? how exciting can fifteen years in Storybrooke really be? Regina & Rumple from the Enchanted Forest has been done, with Regina, to death!
My brain hurts…
Bell would have nothing to do with him or know him. This is new versions. Different lives
I loved loved once upon a time in wonderland and was really sad to see it go off the air. But then once upon a time became my new favorite and now I’m almost emotional seeing it end. But I’m thrilled that it will still be somewhat alive athough it will have a new spin, but I’ll still be able to enjoy my favorite actors. I will certainly miss Jennifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Rebecca Mader and Jared Gilmore.
I think that james dornin should be cast as a new character and be able to go against the evel queen for what she did to him.
I’m so excited for this reboot I can barely take it. (And since it will be about HENRY and Emma won’t be present to be parent number two, maybe they can bring back Neal! Who knows?)
Still cannot figure out, why ABC renewed OUaT. While it had its problems, the S6 finale was the end. Not every story needs a sequel, nor are people interested in one. This reboot for S7 sounds like a complete disaster. As the saying goes…. all good stories must come to an end.
They renewed it cause 1. It’s still makes money 2.They can’t cancel Eveything and they already cancelled 6-7 dramas and it’s still thier fifth highest rated drama and it seems abc believes in it CreativleySheild and wanted to give the Showrunners thier 7 seasons plan.
I’ve watched the series from day one and was in aww at the amazing way these writers tied in the multiple fairytales and the spin off with once upon a wonderland giving Will Scarlet a double identity between the shows was amazing. I can’t wait to see the twist and new fairytale
tie-ins they put together for Henry. I wonder if Henry married the girl from the King Arthur’s Realm and was possibly fighting Malificents Daughter being the dragon? Could make a very interesting start to another curse because that would certainly drag in Regina , Gold, & Hook ….