Once Upon a Time fans were surprised when Elizabeth Mitchell was added to the cast of the ABC series.
The show will feature characters from Disney’s Frozen during season 4, and Mitchell’s casting was so unexpected because Once had already found its Elsa (Georgina Haig) and Anna (Elizabeth Lail) when the news broke that the Lost star would be joining the show.
Luckily for Oncers dying to know more about Mitchell’s character, Once Upon a Time showrunners Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz recently dropped a very big clue about who the actress will be playing during the Frozen story line. If you don’t want to know, be forewarned that potential spoilers lay ahead.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly , the co-creators were asked about two popular fan theories. Some fans believe that Elizabeth Mitchell will be playing Elsa and Anna’s mother. She supposedly died during a sea voyage in Disney’s Frozen , but Once Upon a Time might tweak her story by having her survive the shipwreck that orphaned Anna and Elsa. The second theory is that Mitchell is playing a sinister Snow Queen more like the cold-hearted villain in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that Disney’s Frozen is based on.
Edward Kitsis confirmed that Mitchell’s character will be one of these two things on Once Upon a Time , and Adam Horowitz revealed that she’ll also have a link to Storybrooke:
We’ll find Elizabeth Mitchell’s character is connected both to the world of Arendelle and the world of Storybrooke.
Perhaps Ariel is the character’s Storybrooke connection — the mermaid could have saved Anna and Elsa’s mother after witnessing the shipwreck. It’s also possible that the former Queen of Arendelle encountered Hook and his band of pirates during her sea voyage. Mitchell does look like she could be related to Georgina Haig.
However, the Snow Queen theory is equally plausible. Once Upon a Time needs a villain for season 4, and it would be fun to see an epic ice vs. ice battle between Elsa and the evil Snow Queen. Entertainment Weekly previously reported that Elizabeth Mitchell’s character might be malevolent, and many fans think that Elsa was locked up in Mr. Gold’s vault because he mistook the misunderstood girl for the “real” Snow Queen.
it looks like poor Elsa won’t find true love when she finally escapes from the vault. Unfortunately for those already shipping Elsa and Mulan, the showrunners aren’t going to focus on finding a soul mate for the snow queen. Here’s what Kitsis said about what Once Upon a Time has in store for its Elsa:
What we love about Elsa is that she is uncomfortable with her power, she’s lonely, but wasn’t quite sure how to break that loneliness—it took the love of her sister. So we’re not interested in Elsa meeting someone, we’re interested in exploring her as a person, like we have with Regina the past few years.
If you’re more interested in the romantic relationships of Once Upon a Time characters, you do have the Regina/Maid Marian/Robin Hood love triangle to look forward to. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , Horowitz hinted that Robin Hood isn’t going to unceremoniously dump the Evil Queen and run off with his wife:
It’s going to be a challenge because we saw feelings start to grow between the two of them, obviously. It’s a conundrum because Robin Hood believes his wife is dead and he clearly had feelings for her, so that’s going to be hard for him.
Kitsis also implied that Emma’s role in ruining Regina’s love life could have a negative effect on her own relationship with Hook. She might not feel right about enjoying a bodice-ripper romance after destroying Regina’s developing Harlequin love story.
Unfortunately for those more interested in the Once Upon a Time: Frozen story line than the show’s budding romances, Kitsis and Horowitz have confirmed that beloved snowman Olaf won’t make an appearance on the show. However, they did cast a real reindeer to play Sven. And as The Inquisitr previously reported, Oncers can finally get a glimpse of what Georgina Haig’s Queen Elsa looks like.
What are you looking forward to more on Once Upon a Time : finding out the fate of Outlaw Queen and Captain Swan, or seeing what happens with Elsa, Anna, and Mitchell’s mysterious character?