“Once Upon A Time” To Return For Season 7 Without Some Of Its Major Characters; Seventh Installment Will Feature A Time-Jump With Remaining Leads And Two Mysterious Characters?

There are big changes coming to Storybrooke in Season 7 of “Once Upon A Time.”

“Once Upon A Time” has been confirmed to return on ABC for its seventh season. According to Deadline, only three of the multi-leads in the fantasy drama series are expected to return: Lana Parrilla, Robert Carlyle and Colin O’Donoghue, who respectively play Regina Mills, Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin, and Captain Hook. Jennifer Morrison, who plays Storybrooke's Savior Emma Swan, will no longer return to the show, along with her co-stars Jared Gilmore (Henry Mills), Josh Dallas (Prince Charming), Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White), Emilie de Ravin (Belle) and Rebecca Mader (Zelena).

Although Morrison’s reasons for exiting the show were personal, it might not be for the others. De Ravin has since reached out to fans on Instagram and said, “[While I would] have loved to continue exploring Belle’s journey, the show has decided to move in a different creative direction. It’s been an honor and a privilege to bring Belle to life.”

Syfy said “Once Upon A Time” will be exploring a time jump in Season 7, and will bring back an adult version of Henry Mills, presumably for Regina as her counterpart. Andrew J. West (“The Walking Dead”) is assumed to be the older version of Henry, while a new girl (to be played by Alison Fernandez of “Jane the Virgin”) will bring a new twist to the Season 7 storyline.

As for how the show will tie up the loose ends of all the character exits they will be introducing, ABC president Channing Dungey has said, “Regardless of what we decide to do at the end of this season, I think they think [the creators] would put a little bit of a bow here, and then there is a next piece that comes after that, so they are trying to figure out what that is and how that works. There will be a little bit of closure in this particular narrative."