ONCE UPON A TIME: The Cast Talks Season 3 at Comic Con

Editor’s Note: We had so much Comic Con coverage this year, we decided to hold a few reports until closer to their respective show’s premieres. We hope you enjoy these teasers for the new season of Once Upon a Time!

On the biggest day of Comic Con 2013 (that would be Saturday, July 20), the cast and creative minds behind the ABC fairytale drama Once Upon a Time took to the stage to regale the packed audience with what to expect for the show’s much-anticipated upcoming third season.

The panelists included series creator Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis and cast members Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Robert Carlyle, Josh Dallas, Emilie de Ravin, Colin O’Donoghue, Michael James Raymond and Lana Parrilla. But before the big event got underway with TV Guide writer William Keck acting as moderator, a sizzle reel from the show’s second season was screened to an exuberant audience.

As the cast took their seats, the conversation, of course, turned to what will happen in season two with the panelists admitting they don’t know much as they are only on week two of filming, but Adam and Eddy did share that this season will be different than the previous two. You see the network is going to air 11 uninterrupted episode throughout the fall/winter and then 11 uninterrupted episodes during mid-season/spring. By going this programming route, there will be less lag time between episodes and fewer repeats to mar up the storyline.

And, when pressed about what will happen with the characters it was revealed that there will be more complex backstories, including learning more about the twins (Charming and his departed brother), meeting Peter Pan and seeing Neverland, meeting Tinkerbell and learning more about why Henry was taken by Greg (recurring guest star Ethan Embry) and Tamara (recurring guest star (Sonequa Martin-Green).

As panel progressed each of the actors were asked a pertinent question about their characters with Michael sharing that Baelfire/Neal has “had a rough go (of things), but it’s getting better”; Ginnifer sharing that Snow/Mary Margaret has “had a violent year, but it is now (about) finding who she (really) is”; Lana revealing that her favorite ‘kill’ is “coming up in season 3” and Colin revealed that Hook is actually based more on Princess Bride than Jack Sparrow as well as “a few of my friends from back home”.

Ginnifer and Jennifer then shared what was a big challenge for them last year was working with the green screen (for all the CGI affects in the show) with Ginnifer saying the fire in the dream world was difficult and Jennifer saying that she had to be in a green inner tube when pretending recurring guest star Jorge Garcia was seen as the giant. Speaking of Jorge, it was revealed that the viewers will get to see more of his character Anton, which – of course – garnered a great deal of praise from the audience, as he is an obvious fan favorite.

While spoilers were less than plentiful, there was a cute “Good Morning, Storybrooke” video clip (written by staff writer Jane Espenson) shown during the panel with Community star Yvette Nicole Brown and The League alum Paul Scheer acting as hosts and actor David Anders, who plays Dr. Whale, provided a medical report. The video clip also featured short skits with actress Amy Acker, who played the blue fairy and Lee Arenberg, who plays Grumpy; Meghan Ory, dressed as Ruby, making an uncomfortable spokesperson for Granny’s Café and Inn as well as Emilie de Ravin as Belle inspiring viewers to visit their local library. The end of the panel also featured a sneak peek at a new character who will be introduced in season three: the little mermaid, Ariel.

Once Upon a Time returns tonight at 8/7c on ABC.