'Once Upon a Time' season 7 cast news, spoilers: Charming and Snow not returning, EPs confirm

A screenshot from television series "Once Upon a Time" featuring Emma (Jennifer Morrison) who will be absent in the upcoming renewal airing this fallInstagram/onceabcofficial

Fans are saying goodbye to some of their favorite characters in "Once Upon a Time" season 7. Among them are regulars Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) and Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) who have been with the show since the first installment.

Digital Spy has reported that the upcoming season is going to feature a time jump, bringing the storyline into the future. With this twist, some characters are leaving the cast. Aside from the royal couple, Emma (Jennifer Morrison), young Henry (Jared Gilmore), Belle (Emilie de Ravin), and Zelena (Rebecca Mader) are not going to return in season 7. This has been confirmed by the show's two executive producers. However, they promised that the upcoming renewal provides an explanation as to why certain characters are no longer a part of the future.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, "Once Upon a Time" creator Edward Kitsis said that the absence of certain fairytale characters in season 7 does not mean they are not going to be mentioned in the new storyline. He further revealed that the production has "absolutely" planned for season 7 to show what is already going on with each departed character.

Kitsis' answer is echoed by his co-executive producer, Adam Horowitz, telling the online publication, "Yeah, we fully intend on that."

Recently, Horowitz has created a huge buzz when he spilled the title of season 7's premiere episode on social media. On his personal Twitter account, he shared what appears to be the cover of the first episode's script. The cover is numbered "Ep. #701" and titled "Once Upon a Time." It has a subtitle indicating "Hyperion Heights" and a by-line including the names of the two executive producers, Kitsis and Horowitz. Horowitz captioned the photo, "Here's the first #OnceUponATime #titlespoiler of season 7 — hope to see ya this fall!"

TV Guide, in a report dating June 29, tried to find the meaning behind the title of season 7's first episode. They looked into Greek mythology to find an answer. They cited the Greek god Hyperion, the Father of Heavenly Lights. He is the husband of Theia with whom he has three children, namely Eos (Dawn), Helios (Sun) and Selene (Moon).

Eventually, the online publication expressed that they highly doubt that the upcoming installment is going to involve any Greek mythology. They concluded that "Hyperion Heights" simply refers to the show's new location.

"Once Upon a Time" season 7 follows an older version of Henry (Andrew J. West) as he explores new worlds with the help of Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), Regina (Lana Parrilla) and Rumple (Robert Carlyle).