‘Once Upon a Time in Wonderland’: Yes to Barbara Hershey; no to Sebastian Stan

“Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” is clearly a series that ABC holds a great deal of confidence in. It’s thanks to its overall quality and that the network took the risk in scheduling in on Thursday nights, rather than placing the show as a midseason replacement for “Once Upon a Time” itself while it was going on hiatus.

But will the show live up to the hype? We know it has both Naveen Andrews and the voice of John Lithgow, and we do always think that this plays a big part in determining future success. It also, based on what showrunners Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz said at TCA today, will have Barbara Hershey for at least one episode as Cora. We learned last year that she was the Queen of Hearts, but alas, she is dead within the present-day “Once Upon a Time” universe.

One person that we will not see, meanwhile, in this world for the time being is the Mad Hatter. There was backlash when the idea of recasting the role was originally brought up after Sebastian Stan was not available, and both Horowitz and Kitsis insist that unless his schedule opens up, he will not be appearing. (Stan last appeared briefly for a few episodes during season 2.)

One other schedule note here is that “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” like the flagship show, will be divided up into halves. The series “The Quest” is poised to take over for a while in early January, and then this fantasy show will reclaim its TV spot on the throne a little later.

In addition to finding out some more news on this show, you can also check out Comic-Con and over coverage by clicking the link here.

Photo: ABC