EW Scan – First Look At The Queens of Darkness

[Felie]

Okay, I think we all have differing opinions about the costume of Maleficent. Lets move on. Lets talk about CRUELLA DE VILLE! *thunder cracks*

Her costume is pretty straight froward ut how do you guys feels about it? I like it. She’s no Glenn Close but still I really hope Eduardo doesnt cut corners when it comes to her wardrobe. She needs to be the Queen Of Fashion on this show. Also, what is she holding in her hand in one of the pictures? I saw it in the promo but can’t make out what it is

Lol, agreed.

And I was staring at that picture for ages trying to figure out what it was… but to no avail.

[Slurpeez]

And I was staring at that picture for ages trying to figure out what it was… but to no avail.

The object in Cruella’s hand looks like a tiara to me.

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[MatthewPaul]

I’m fine with the way Cruella looks. I really don’t have a problem with her resembling the Disney live-action version of her. However, I think I would have a problem with Cruella being a shape-shifting dalmatian sorceress. There’s “taking liberties” and then there’s what I would call an overly active imagination. I suppose Cruella could be like Ruby, who is actually a werewolf, but that just seems like a bridge too far as far as I’m concerned.

Here’s the problem I’m seeing. When the show has taken too many liberties for their liking (examples being Hook, Peter Pan, and Rapunzel), people complain. When the show sticks too close to the Disney version for their liking (the Frozen cast, and now Maleficent), people will complain too. Are we asking for more of a happy medium between the two concepts? Clearly we’re not all going to agree on which direction the show should take.

[Slurpeez]

Here’s the problem I’m seeing. When the show has taken too many liberties for their liking (examples being Hook, Peter Pan, and Rapunzel), people complain. When the show sticks too close to the Disney version for their liking (the Frozen cast, and now Maleficent), people will complain too. Are we asking for more of a happy medium between the two concepts? Clearly we’re not all going to agree on which direction the show should take.

I think the writers need to ask themselves an important question. Does the introduction of new characters make narrative sense within the story? Could they be introduced in an organic fashion that fits within the mythology and timeline already established and doesn’t mess up canon events and character motivations? And if so, is their inclusion going to enhance the story or does it detract from the main characters too much?

My main problem with the inclusion of Frozen wasn’t just that it was too new, or that I was already tired of the Frozen franchise before S4 had even begun. My main problem with the over inclusion of basically every Frozen character was that it didn’t fit as much with the story already laid out. It had a lot of convenient plot devices like the wishing star or the magical door from Arendelle to our world, which makes Rumple’s effort to create the dark curse to get to our world in S1 seem (at best) misguided. It required some wonky timeline jumping, including time travel at the end of S3 to get Marian and Elsa to our world, and also a LOT of memory erasing. Amnesia feels very convenient when you want to change the story already set out in S1 and S2. It feels like a lot of retacon went on to try and cram in basically all the Frozen characters, plus Ingrid, even while sometimes compromising previously established canon (why couldn’t Ingrid age in SB, despite the fact that Henry did, though neither was cursed?) By not checking the “show bible” it feel lazy in a way that creates needless contradiction and confusion.

So my main concern headed into S4b is that with the overabundance of villains, the story is going to be stretched so thin that the main characters already in the show won’t be given enough coverage. Why do we need three villains when Mal would’ve been enough? Instead, it feels like the writers are tying to cram them all into 11 episodes before they run out of time or the show ends for good. Characters like Will, Henry and Belle frequently get overlooked, and even though Belle (finally) got a character-centric story, was lucky just to get a cameo in favor of focusing too much on the Frozen characters.

So, I’m left to wonder whether the story really needs Ursula and Cruella. How much they really bring to the table at this point in time? It seems to me like Maleficent would’ve been a big enough nemesis. She was already established as a character, along with her connection to characters like Regina, Aurora, Philip, Mulan, Emma, Charming, Will and Robin Hood. And if we must add Cruella, must she be from the EF, too? Her being magical and from the EF feels a lot like the misguided decision to make Bo Peep into a warlord with a magical staff. That was just a poor narrative decision to insert her into the  Frozen arc in such an awkward way. It just seemed like the decision to include Cruella would’ve felt more natural if she’d been from A Land Without Magic and had some connection to someone like Emma, Neal or August, who spent a lot of time there. Making Cruella have magic and be from a fantasy world just feels less organic than Ariel in NL, were mermaids were already established as part of that NL myth.

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[Phee]

Agreed with just about everything Slurpeez said, especially the stuff about how Frozen got forced in and some of the effects that had on the show.

It just seemed like the decision to include Cruella would’ve felt more natural if she’d been from A Land Without Magic and had some connection to someone like Emma, Neal or August, who spent a lot of time there. Making Cruella have magic and be from a fantasy world just feels less organic than Ariel in NL, were mermaids were already established as part of that NL myth.

They could have gone either way with Cruella I guess, but she’s such a one note villain that I think they kinda had to make her magical and from FTL because what kind of story could they really write for her if she was just a regular person from our world who gets off on slaughtering puppies? Making her magical does make her fit better IMO, but that being said I don’t see right now how she’s an obvious and necessary inclusion at this point in the story.

If they wanted to bring Red back and give her a nemesis to build her story line around, then by all means, an evil witch who gets off on slaughtering puppies would fit perfectly. But I’m pretty confident that’s NOT what they’re gonna do with her, so right now she just feels superfluous, and like they were all, “So people keep asking us about Cruella in interviews, so let’s take that shiny toy of the shelf and cram her into the show ASAP.” And on a show where already existing main cast members are getting neglected, them cramming in yet another superfluous recurring character to get screen time instead is sort of infuriating.

*goes to sit alone in the corner and admire Maleficent’s old dress because purple is my fave colour to an obsessive degree*

[TheWatcher]

They could have had Cruella hail from Fictional London realm like Alice. She could have still had magic or learned it even. I just can’t look at Cruella and believe she is from a magical land full of fairies, mermaids, and all that stuff.

I bet her magic is either red or a black/white/grey mix. I AM CALLING IT NOW!!!!

what kind of story could they really write for her if she was just a regular person from our world who gets off on slaughtering puppies

She’d fit right in on American Horror Story 😛

goes to sit alone in the corner and admire Maleficent’s old dress because purple is my fave colour to an obsessive degree*

*joins Phee* 😀

"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsis’s Glasses , Ariel’s Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Pan’s Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGIC

[RumplesGirl]

Slurpeez wrote:

I’m fine with the way Cruella looks. I really don’t have a problem with her resembling the Disney live-action version of her. However, I think I would have a problem with Cruella being a shape-shifting dalmatian sorceress. There’s “taking liberties” and then there’s what I would call an overly active imagination. I suppose Cruella could be like Ruby, who is actually a werewolf, but that just seems like a bridge too far as far as I’m concerned.

Here’s the problem I’m seeing. When the show has taken too many liberties for their liking (examples being Hook, Peter Pan, and Rapunzel), people complain. When the show sticks too close to the Disney version for their liking (the Frozen cast, and now Maleficent), people will complain too. Are we asking for more of a happy medium between the two concepts? Clearly we’re not all going to agree on which direction the show should take.

Well, let’s be fair to some people’s complaints. Rapunzel wasn’t bad because she was a drastic change to the Disney version…it was because she was absolute definition of a filler character (and a poor excuse to try and end the criticism at ONCE about POCs)

You know how much I liked Peter Pan on ONCE. And I liked Ariel as well. It’s not a matter of “too much Disney!” and I agree with Slurpeez. There are some things that are natural because they keep with the overarching motif of the show. Just now changing Mal’s dress and–this is big–not owning up to the fact that they are doing it because of Disney…it’s disingenuous.

They could have had Cruella hail from Fictional London realm like Alice. She could have still had magic or learned it even. I just can’t look at Cruella and believe she is from a magical land full of fairies, mermaids, and all that stuff

Fictional London would have made a lot more sense, I agree

And on a show where already existing main cast members are getting neglected, them cramming in yet another superfluous recurring character to get screen time instead is sort of infuriating.

Forever worried about Will and Belle’s screentime next season. How many shots of Belle asleep are we going to get next season do you think?

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Phee]

Forever worried about Will and Belle’s screentime next season.

Oh I hope Will won’t even be around next season. Get that guy back to WL and Ana by season’s end, please and thank you.

How many shots of Belle asleep are we going to get next season do you think?

By next season we’ll just have other characters randomly mentioning that she’s at home sleeping and we won’t even get to see it.

[WickedRegal]

Even still….if Cruella hadn’t been from the EF, as @TheWatcher said, they could have let her have magic in Fictional London just as they had let the Chinese Dragon Man have magic in wherever Tamara went! (We’ll still never see that again)

Cruella vs Red would have been a perfect Cruella intro storyline in my opinion because Ruby is a werewolf, and Cruella does have an obsession with fur and with Once’s Twist, maybe magic! Backstory could have been Cruella had a bad history with Ruby’s parents, and now because she can’t have her vengeance on her parents, she’ll take it out on their daughter.

Ursula…we’re going to have to bring back Eric and Ariel, because I can’t see there being an Ursula story without the two of them. Frankly…Ursula could have stood her own ground in Season 5, just as Maleficent can stand hers in Season 4B. As stated above, this does feel like a “Hurry up and do it” situation where Adam and Eddy wanna Disney Overdose us before Once ends, but using up all their characters now, whose going to be left besides Jafar for Season 5?

And frankly…I’m seriously worried about these Queens of Darkness just being a red herring to distract us from them possibly making Rumple out to be the Big Bad of 4B.  That Seer’s Prophecy may have not been referring to Neverland, and Henry leading Rumple to Neal and Henry being his downfall may be two separate events to occur, rather than back to back.

Rapunzel was terrible because the way her storyline was delivered….very very very filler like episode. And she’s never to be heard from again…it was just a story Adam and Eddy wanted to hurry up and get out the way.

In All Honesty…Why Don’t They Just Kick That Land Without Magic Crap Out The Window! Clearly magic is in this world….Ingrid using rock stones, Emma flickering lights at the arcade game, and while giving birth, the Mushu Dragon….I wish they can just fess up and say we screwed up. #WishfulThinking

"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor

[Felie]

In All Honesty…Why Don’t They Just Kick That Land Without Magic Crap Out The Window! Clearly magic is in this world….Ingrid using rock stones, Emma flickering lights at the arcade game, and while giving birth, the Mushu Dragon….I wish they can just fess up and say we screwed up. #WishfulThinking

What if we once did have a lot of magic but it was all stolen by a certain mysterious sorcerer using a certain magical hat?

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Author]

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