“Once Upon a Time” is finally back with its Season 7 premiere, and fans are about to find out whether the rebooted show is a wish come true.
Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, co-creators of the ABC drama series, told TheWrap that they have a mixture feelings as viewers will finally get to experience the show’s new direction when it returns tonight. This follows the announcement in May that such core stars as Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow), Jennifer Morrison (Emma) and Josh Dallas (Charming) would not return after Season 6.
“We’re really excited for everyone to see, and we’re nervous as hell, and that’s kind of how things have been going,” Kitsis said. “We feel like ‘this is the show you still love’ is in the DNA of how we’ve done this. [Unlike premieres of] years past, this is much more of a brand new pilot, in that we’re introducing everybody in this world with new characters and new adventures.”
Among the show’s new addition are a grown-up Henry (Andrew J. West), Cinderella (Dania Ramirez), Cinderella’s stepmother (Gabrielle Anwar) and young Lucy (Alison Fernandez), along with new personas for the returning characters, including Lana Parrilla’s Evil Queen now slinging drinks at a bar.
“Anytime you do something new, there’s always going to be someone questioning why are you doing something new,” Kitsis said. “We hope the audience will like it, but at some point you have to be fearless. Because when our show started, everyone predicted our show to be the first canceled, and seven years later, we’re still talking to you. [We swung] big then, and I don’t know how we’re going to keep going if we don’t keep trying that.”
Horowitz pointed out that he will “take passion over indifference” among the show’s fans, even if it’s of the critical variety. “I get it, and I understand if you’re passionate and love something, to see it change is a scary proposition,” he continued. “We hope that they take the leap with us, and they like what we do.”
But there’s no doubt that they’ll soon find out how fans feel.
“One thing I’ve learned with the internet is, everybody has an opinion, and they’re all different,” Kitsis said. “Everybody’s going to say everything — we just hope they come with us.”
“Once Upon a Time” Season 7 launches Friday at 8/7c on ABC.