Once Upon a Time: Redux?

I know I’m a few weeks late in discussing this but better late than never, right?

Inside the Magic, a site dedicated to all things Disney, posted a story about a possible Once Upon a Time revival on Disney+. It was based on comments Colin O’Donoghue (Captain Hook/Killian Jones) made in an article on Collider released ahead of a new project he is working on.

Namely that there had been conversations about reviving Once Upon a Time.

This certainly generated some buzz on social media. Honestly, it was the most I’ve seen my timeline active in a while and my notifications were almost the same as when the show used to air.

I’m not surprised that there have been conversations about possibly reviving the show. Revivals have been happening all over TV and streaming services. Suits is getting a revival despite ending in 2019, one year after Once Upon a Time. So it doesn’t seem like it might be too soon to revive the show.

It also isn’t surprising that it might be on Disney+. The hope may be that it will lure more people to watch Disney+. I also recall reading that ABC wasn’t really looking for new shows after this shortened season. That could change and once again, this is just conjecture based on Colin’s comments. We’ve had no corroboration from either Disney, ABC or Adam and Eddy.

So what do I think? Let me lay out my thoughts for you.

Cast

I think the success of a revival really comes down to the cast. What really sticks with people all these years later aren’t so much the storylines but the characters. And a lot of that is due to the cast and how they brought those characters to life. Once Upon a Time really had some great casting and that made the show successful.

In the article, Colin says that the premise of Once Upon a Time would allow the show to continue with a whole new cast and he’s not wrong. There’s a chance they could bring in new actors and be successful but I think it’s a small chance. Especially if they are recycling characters like they ended up doing in Season 7.

And we all know how divisive Season 7 ended up being.

So I think it would probably be best to try to get the original cast back if possible. Right now, most of the cast doesn’t have any long-term commitments that we know about. Many have also expressed interest in returning to the show in the past so it’s possible that they could return to play the characters we love.

Creatives

Of course Adam and Eddy would be involved in any potential revival of the show since they were the creators. I just hope that if there is a revival, they would just be the executive producers and not head writers. I always felt like they were good idea people – they could throw out ideas – but they weren’t really good at following through. They need a strong head writer who can take their ideas and make something cohesive from them – or at least figure out which ones are worth pursuing rather than just throwing everything at the wall and see what stuck.

Because there were some seasons I felt that was what they were doing and the show suffered for it.

I think they should bring back one or two former writers just for continuity but otherwise, they should start fresh with new writers. Let’s bring some new eyes and ideas to the board so we avoid repeating old storylines again.

You know, if this is really happening.

Disney+

I’m more torn about the possibility of the show being on Disney+.

In the “pro” column, there’s the fact that streaming shows don’t really follow the normal TV schedule and often have smaller episode orders. It might be easier to get the original cast members back if they don’t have to commit to a 22 season that films from July to April.

We know Once Upon a Time can tell a story in ten episodes or so. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 were divided into two and each half had their own arcs. If Adam and Eddy return as the head writers, shorter seasons and more time to write them would likely be a benefit. One of the reasons Season 1 was so good was that they had a lot of time to really work on it that they wouldn’t have been afforded with the other seasons.

(Another reason is that one of their colleagues from Lost was also involved in the creation of Season 1 and may have played a large part in why it was as good as it was).

Disney has set the precedence of releasing new episodes weekly rather than all at once. This will allow for fandom to still process and analysis each episode as well as formulate theories about what will happen next, something that was an important part of the Once Upon a Time experience.

However, it does seem like Disney may be moving away from creating original content for Disney+. So if it wants a revival of Once Upon a Time, it may consider it for ABC instead.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be honest. If they do revive Once Upon a Time, I’ll likely give it a chance – especially if they get most of the cast back. I loved it, warts and all, and I’ll still support it.

However, I think if they do anything, they should probably do movies that air on Disney+ and could then be aired to fill time on ABC’s schedule during hiatuses. There were plenty of things they never got to wrap up before the show ended and I think movies would be a great way to do that.

Movies may also give the writers chances to keep stories tighter and not try to overburden them since they only have the equivalent of two or three episodes rather than eleven or even twenty-two. It also may be easier to get cast members to agree to movies since it would be even less of a commitment filming-wise than even a miniseries. They could work together again, briefly reinhabit these characters and then still take on new projects.

Personally, as an Outlaw Queen fan, I would love to see a movie where they finally undid Robin’s death and let him and Regina have their happy ending. But I guess that’s also what fanfic is for.

(I’d also like to see Mulan finally get a happy ending and a girlfriend of her own).

Whether or not they do revive Once Upon a Time, this does remind me that I need to finish my recaps. So I think I’ll be focusing on that starting this summer.

So what about you? Would you be happy with a revival of Once Upon a Time? Do you think it’s best just to leave it in the past? What about my idea for movies? If so, what would you like to see?

Let me know in the comments!

And keep an eye out for the return of my Once Upon a Time recaps!