Previewing Once Upon a Time in Wonderland at Disney’s D23 Expo, the showrunners reveal new plot details about the spinoff series.

Yesterday at D23, Adam Horowitz and Ed Kitsis previewed both Once Upon a Time season 3 and their new Once spinoff Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

Speaking about the latter show, Kitsis emphasises what the showrunners have maintained since the spinoff was first announced: that each season will be a very self-contained arc.

The Hollywood Reporter was at the event, and quotes Kitsis, who said, “It will be much like a movie, or like how they went on one mission in Star Trek, and another year it was another mission.”

Kitsis also touched on the relationship between Alice (Sophie Lowe) and Cyrus (Peter Gadiot), saying, “Alice was curious enough to follow a rabbit into a hole. Naturally she would fall in love with a genie.”

He further says that the two are “kindred spirits,” explaining, “[the Genie has] seen many lives, worlds and places. People ruin their lives for wishes.”

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland will exist very much apart from its parent series, but fans who watch carefully will be treated to “crumbs” of references sprinkled throughout season 1.

And it’ll be more than just the way Once references Lost. Several characters will have shared pasts with Once Upon a Time characters, and some even have ties to Storybrooke.

Finally, The Examiner reports that the showrunners confirmed that the Mad Hatter (played by Sebastian Stan, a fan favourite on Once Upon a Time) will not be re-cast despite Stan’s limited availability.

Worried viewers were assured that it would be Sebastian Stan in the Mad Hatter role, or no Mad Hatter at all.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland premieres Thursday, October 10, airing at 8/7c on ABC. The first episode is aptly titled “Down the Rabbit Hole.”