Sebastian Stan’s Mad Hatter has been one of the more popular characters on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” so it makes a tiny bit of sense that ABC is contemplating a spinoff built around the character.
See, it only makes “a tiny bit of sense” when you know that “Once Upon a Time” is in the midst of a spring ratings slum that started with the Grammys, but continued the following week with less competition.
And then it makes even less sense when you learn that, according to Deadline.com, ABC is thinking about recasting the role.
Stan, previously a regular on “Political Animals,” has a busy and developing movie career and isn’t able to sign the required multi-year commitment, so the network is looking to find a new Mad Hatter and the network would then monitor to see how the actor, character and arc were received before moving forward with a spinoff plan. Or maybe, since all reports just use tentative words like “mull,” ABC is just floating the idea of a Sebastian Stan-free Mad Hatter to see if “Once Upon a Time” fans revolt.
Either way, it’s pure speculation and we’ll let you know if anything develops.
It should be noted that NBC has the drama pilot “Wonderland” in the works for this development season, so “Alice in Wonderland” twists appear to be all the rage.