When Once Upon a Time returns for season 3, Neal will be a regular character – suggesting that we’ll also be seeing Mulan and Aurora again!

In the season 2 finale of Once Upon a Time, we were relieved to learn that not only had the gunshot wound and fall through the portal not killed Neal (Michael Raymond-James), but he’d washed up on shore in Fairytale Land.

There, he was discovered by Mulan (Jamie Chung), Aurora (Sarah Bolger) and Prince Phillip, who we have to presume will nurture him back to health.

TV Line has now learned that Michael Raymond-James will be back in season 3, and has been promoted to a regular character – which most likely means that he’ll be featured in almost every episode (although Meghan Ory’s promotion sadly did not mean the same thing).

Not only is this good news for fans hoping for an eventual Emma/Bae romance (and hey, while she thinks he’s dead, who’s to say we can’t have a little Captain Swan on the side?!), but it also suggests that we’ll be spending a significant amount of time in present-day Fairytale Land.

The story will already be split between Storybrooke and Neverland, and there will probably also be flashbacks to the Fairytale Land that was.

Since Neal is currently in the company of Mulan, Aurora, and Philip, we hope this means we’ll be seeing more of this threesome in season 3, too (although both Chung and Bolger have new pilot commitments).

This is exciting news! Are you looking forward to seeing Raymond-James back on Once Upon a Time in season 3?