‘Once Upon a Time’ season 4 spoilers: Beyond Storybrooke’s borders

The fourth season of “Once Upon a Time” has spent perhaps even more time than usual in Storybrooke, with the biggest reason for that being simply the spell that Elsa put upon the town in the early stages. However, things are starting to change more and more now, and with Robin Hood now out in the real world, and with Rumpelstiltskin on a recruiting mission for the Queens of Darkness, other characters are going to be joining them soon enough.

This news was scooped to us by co-creator Adam Horowitz, who told Entertainment Weekly in a new interview a little bit about how there are at least one or two other people who will start to explore the rest of the world soon:

“You’ll see some characters arriving in Storybrooke and you’ll see some characters departing as well … We think it’s fun to venture outside the confines of Storybrooke and see some of our characters in the real world.”

We definitely do not dispute this claim, largely because one of the original joys of this show was the whole fish-out-of-water quality of it all. For example, getting to see Emma Swan surrounded by fairy-tale characters. Now, the joy could come in seeing someone magical in a world without magic, trying to figure out how these people function and thrive. It brings us back to that era when these sort of movies were really popular, where you used someone in an unfamiliar setting as a key narrative device.

“Once Upon a Time” returns to the air on March 1, and if you head over here right now, you can see a new poster that features Maleficent front and center! Also, be sure to sign up today to have some other TV magic sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)