There’s a lot in store for our favorite Storybooke characters when Once Upon A Time picks back up again. Lucky for us, the cast and showrunners were on hand at San Deigo Comic-Con to tease what we can expect going into next season!
Last season may have been about redemption, but season 6 is set to be a whole other ballgame. In fact, showrunners Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis explained that we should expect this season to focus on “looking at the darkness within us.”
“I think the Jekyll and Hyde metaphor with the Evil Queen can work on everyone,” teased Kitsis.
Horowitz on the other hand reminded us all that things aren’t ever black and white when it comes to Once Upon A Time.
“The separation of the dark and the light in Regina— it’s not a simple as just cutting someone in half,” explained Horowitz. “Can you really just take one part of yourself out? What does that do to the rest of you?”
Both showrunners may be keeping tight lipped on the matter so as not to spoil Regina’s inevitable story arc this season, but we got a few more clues as to what we can expect from both her and the Evil Queen from Lana Parrilla herself.
For starters, Parrilla teased that good Regina may still grapple with the darkness within despite the fact that she effectively striped herself from her evil queen counterpart last season.
“I think that Regina ultimately wants to be good and make selfless decisions, and make decisions and choices that are healthy, and positive, and great for everyone,” Parrilla told Hypable during the press roundtables. “I think she’s still going to be on that path, [but] there’s so much that I don’t know— I don’t know what the Evil Queen is going to awaken inside of her, but I’m curious to find out.”
Meanwhile, actor Jared Gilmore chimed in and said Henry may very well find himself conflicted when it comes to Regina’s darker counterpart.
“It’s interesting because she doesn’t just look like my mom — she is my mom — the Evil Queen raised Henry for 10 years so it’ll be interesting to see how Henry reacts to the Evil Queen now,” said Gilmore. “Henry always tries to see the good in people — is he even going to try and see the good in the Evil Queen? Is that even possible? That’s an interesting thing that I would love to explore.”
Regina won’t be the only character grappling with darkness as the series progresses. Season 6 is set to be a season of secrets and reveals. Both Horowitz and Kitsis teased that throughout the course of the season, some of our favorite characters would find themselves having to come to terms with secrets and revelations from their past.
Once such character who will have to do just that is everyone’s favorite Captain. When we caught up with Colin O’Donoghue at this year’s Once Upon A Time press event, the Hook actor teased that delving into Killian’s past wouldn’t necessarily be a walk in the park.
In fact, O’Donoghue even teased that what we learn about Hook this year could very well effect how he gets on with some other characters in the series.
“Here’s the good thing about Hook: he’s a 300-year-old pirate, so he’s done a lot of things,” said O’Donoghue. “What we see is going to test his relationship with some people in Storybooke because you know, he’s done so much that he’s not proud of and I think with who he is now as a character, it’s going to be tough for him to try and reconcile with that.”