'Once Upon A Time' Creators Returning To ABC For 'Epic', A Romance Set In Disney's Fairytale Universe

Once Upon a Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are returning to the world of fairytales. They're teaming up with their former Once Upon a Time writer Brigette Hales to launch a new ABC show called Epic, a "romantic anthology series set in the fairytale universe of Disney." Here's what we know about it so far.

Deadline has word about the new project, and they describe it like this:

Taking place in a Disney-like Enchanted Forest, it will center on a whole new set of new heroes, villains, princes, princesses and all manner of magical beings. While it will pay homage to the classic signposts we're all familiar with from the stories we grew up with, Epic will endeavor to create a whole new batch of characters as it explores love in all its forms.

The anthology format has seen a significant resurgence in recent years, with shows like Black Mirror, Channel Zero, The Terror, American Horror Story, Castle Rock, Room 104, and the new Twilight Zone. But it's rare to see a romantic anthology show – the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Amazon's Modern Love, which has a terrific cast and comes from a great director but hasn't made much of a splash since its debut back in October.

Disney-owned ABC developing a new show set in Disney's fairytale universe is perhaps the least surprising news of the month. Once Upon a Time ran for seven seasons and came to an end last year, and I'm kind of shocked that Disney didn't have something similar all primed and ready to go the second that series finale aired. I admit that I hated Once Upon a Time and gave up after like two episodes, largely because it seemed like a much worse version of Bill Willingham's excellent comic Fables (which ABC was developing as a series, but then passed on it before greenlighting Once instead). I can't speak to the overall quality of that show, but I love what Kitsis and Horowitz did on Lost, and to give them the slightest bit of credit in this case, I suppose it's saying something that they're trying to create all-new characters for Epic instead of just falling back on old reliables.

Hales is a protégé of Kitsis and Horowitz who worked with them on Once Upon a Time and their upcoming AppleTV+ revival of Steven Spielberg's sci-fi anthology series Amazing Stories. The three of them co-created this show and will executive produce, but Hale seems poised to be the primary creative lead; she's writing the script, while the Lost and Felicity veterans are "supervising and helping shepherd the project through the development process through Kitsis & Horowitz Prods."