Once Upon a Time Season 7 Posters

The official season 7 posters for ABC's Once Upon a Time were dropped recently, and I would like to share some of my initial reactions with you. Granted, these reactions are sure to change when I see the season premiere next week, but I'll work with what I have for now. To be honest, the season is not shaping out very well so far with its alternate realities and its identity crisis after half the cast left at the end of the last season. Initially, Once Upon a Time was a refreshing new take on princess offspring, with the daughter of Snow White growing up in the real world and not believing in fairy tales. It would have been a decent show if ABC's parent company, Disney, didn't get greedy by renewing the show for far more seasons than it needed in an attempt to subtly market their products.

Since the Charming family is leaving the show, season 7 will be introducing us to a new cast of lead characters, featuring an adult version of Henry married to an "alternate" Cinderella, who just happens to have practically the same outfit as this show's previous Cinderella. Just like Emma, Henry has a kid who he doesn't know about, possibly due either to a curse or her mother not telling him about her. Either way, it appears that Henry is following in his mother's footsteps, which makes the new season feel just as uninspired as the Disney sequels and live-action remakes. Speaking of uninspired, I noticed that every image in this series has the exact same generic filter applied to it. I'm not sure if it makes the pictures look surreal or like a lazy attempt to appear artsy.

HENRY MILLS (ANDREW J. WEST)

First up, we have adult Henry, who we got our first glimpse of in last season's finale. Andrew West is from The Walking Dead, which I've never seen. He looks like an order Jared Gilmore, so I'm happy with the choice. As the grandson of Prince Charming, he looks very dapper in his regal leather jacket. Though he takes after his mom in respect to the leather, his clothing is styled closer to something you would see in the fairy tale era, unlike Emma's modern look. Though I liked Henry when the show began, he seemed to get less interesting the older he got. It's debatable whether he can carry an entire season. I guess we'll have to see.

DRIZELLA (ADELAIDE KANE)

Oh my goodness, it's Mary Queen of Scots from the CW's Reign! What is Adelaide Kane doing on Once Upon a Time? She's way too good for this show. I guess they could use all the help they can get getting people to watch the new season. The odd thing about this poster is that she looks more like a "Cinderella" than an ugly stepsister. This gorgeous white rhinestone and tulle ensemble is more reminiscent of the new Broadway version of Cinderella than Disney. In fact, it looks far more unique than the Cinderella dress they're using in the show. I'm eager to see what they're doing with this new version of Drizella because Adelaide is a fantastic actress who carries herself like true royalty.

HOOK (COLIN O'DONOGHUE)

Here is one of only three returning characters from the original show. When I first saw Colin O'Donoghue as Hook in season 2, I didn't like him at all. I thought Emma deserved much better. He grew on me after the season 3 finale, when he went back in time and helped her save the known universe. At the end of season 6, I cheered them on at their musical wedding. I finally accepted him as a love interest for Emma, and now, he's coming back without Emma. What gives? They just got married! The writers of the show said that this does not mean that he and Emma didn't get their happy ending, but I'm still skeptical. Not cool, guys. If Emma goes, Hook goes too. That's all there is to it.

CINDERELLA (DANIA RAMIREZ)

Replacing Jessy Schram as Cinderella As our "alternate reality" Cinderella, who just happens to have the same dress, shoes, and step-family surname as the last one is Dania Ramirez. Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that Cinderella is being played by a person of color (even though nothing will ever beat Brandy's version from 1997), but they could have made her unique since she's supposed to be from a different culture's version of the tale. Instead, they pinned a cookie cutter Disney Cinderella dress onto a new actress. I get that they needed Henry to fall in love with a princess to continue the Charming line, but they couldn't come up with a more original princess than alternative Cinderella?

LUCY (ALISON FERNANDEZ)

Then there's the new Henry Henry's daughter, Lucy, who makes her introduction using the exact same tired dialogue and entrance as Henry did in the pilot episode. She looks like she could actually be Henry and alternative Cinderella's daughter, so I'll give them that. Alison Fernandez appears to be a decent actress from what I saw during the season 6 finale, so I'm willing to give her a chance. Actually, she played young Jane in Jane the Virgin, so she's a terrific actress. If we see her grown up with a kid she didn't know about in a few seasons, though, I'm calling it quits.

RUMPELSTILTSKIN (ROBERT CARLYLE)

Robert Carlyle is also coming back to reprise his role as one of the most interesting characters on the show. Wait, when did Rumpelstiltskin start wearing jeans? He's really let himself go. I'm not sure I'm as interested in a casual Rumpelstiltskin who dresses like a slob living in a newly cursed world. The writers revealed that the fourth episode of the season would focus on the progress of Belle and Rumpel's relationship. If any relation in the show is in need of progress, it's theirs. Most women would have given upon Rumpel long before his endless history of lying and using Belle, but I suppose that's the whole point of the "Beauty and the Beast" story. If I had to guess, I predict that it will be one of the better episodes of the new season.

LADY TREMAINE (GABRIELLE ANWAR)

Oh my goodness, is she levitating? No, wait, that's just the layout of the stairs. Gabrielle Anwar plays a new version of Lady Tremaine, even though she still has the same name as the Disney version character. The writers teased us a little by telling us that she would be the main villain in the new series and have some sort of involvement in the curse, even though she may not be the one who cast it. I'm guessing she unleashed some sort of horrible reality that was even worse than the curse, and the good guys cast it so no one would remember all the terror she unleashed. If they're going for a big bad powerful villain to shake things up, Cinderella's stepmother doesn't seem like the best choice, as she has no magic in most versions of the story. Maleficent would have made a better villain since the last version of her that we saw was not nearly as imposing as a dark faery could have been

REGINA (LANA PARILLA)

Lana Parrilla looks pretty much the same in her role as Queen Regina. Like Once Upon a Time, Regina has been struggling with an identity crisis for the past six years, and it looks like she still is.

TIANA (MEKIA COX)

Oh my goodness, one of my absolute favorite hard-working Disney Princesses is finally getting a role on Once Upon a Time! No wait, she's just another generic warrior princess fighting to save her kingdom who just happens to share the same name. She doesn't even sound like she has anything to do with the story of "The Frog Prince." I guess 1920s New Orleans was too controversial for a show about fairy tale characters living in the real world, huh? Too bad. Her impeccable work ethic would have been very interesting to see in a cursed world.

ALICE (ROSE REYNOLDS)

No. Nope. Uh-uh. Absolutely not. Negative. If I have not already made myself crystal clear, I am not okay with another Alice in this multiverse. The 2013 spin-off, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, was way too perfect for me to accept an imitation. I mean, I absolutely adored Sophie Lowe as a grown-up Alice. She was a dreamer, a badass, and a hopeless romantic. The 13 episode spin-off told a perfect story from beginning to end, and I absolutely will accept no substitutes. If you somehow missed the utter perfection that is Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, I strongly suggest rectifying this as soon as possible. It tells a beautiful story of magic and the power of true love, just like every great princess story. Doesn't this season have enough recycled fairy tale characters anyway? Why do they have to make carbon copies of everyone?

As you can see, I'm not exactly thrilled with this new season. I am, however, eager to see Adelaide Kane back on TV as a new fairy tale character, as she is incredibly talented. Hopefully, she is able to breathe life into an otherwise now lifeless show. I'm also vaguely interested in seeing how Henry fell in love Cinderella and got estranged from their daughter, but I fear it might be too similar to his mom's story. Most of this season feels like an uninspired reboot.