'Once Upon' showrunners reveal which famous characters they'd consider adding

Once Upon a Time is broadening its universe beyond fairy tales this season, adding a historical legend (Mulan) and literary creations (Capt. Hook, Lancelot). So who else might possibly show up in Storybrooke? We ran some Disney-owned and public domain characters past showrunners Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz to get the scoop…

Robin Hood? Kitsis: “Absolutely.” Horowitz: “Definitely in-bounds.”

Tarzan? Kitsis: “Never talked about Tarzan. But in a world where The Jungle Book exists, I don’t know why Tarzan couldn’t either.”

Mickey Mouse? Kitsis: “He’s been on the show — in phone form. I can’t ever see how he’d get on and feel real.”

Genghis Khan? Kitsis: “Probably not. Too historical.”

Capt. Jack Sparrow? Both: [Exasperated sighs]

You both had the same reaction to that. Kitsis: “We loved [Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl] so much. But unless we get Johnny Depp, how could we do Jack Sparrow?” Horowitz: “We can’t do it. He’s Jack Sparrow.” Kitsis: “Unless Johnny Depp [wants to appear on] Once Upon a Time, then we will write Jack Sparrow all day!”

Tom Sawyer? Kitsis: “You never know.” Horowitz: “That’s an interesting one.”

The Little Mermaid? Kitsis: “Absolutely. We’re waiting for the right moment. You don’t want it to be just one episode.” Horowitz: “It’s already woven into the fabric of what we’re doing; the only question is when.”

Achilles? Horowitz: “He’s on the border. Possible.”

Wizard of Oz? Kitsis: “We’ve been talking about Oz since Day 1. Look at the pilot. One of the pages of Henry’s book shows flying monkeys. And in Jefferson’s hat there seemed to be an emerald curtain.” Adam: “Oz is another ‘when,’ not ‘if.'”

Captain Ahab? Horowitz: “I like Ahab.” Kitsis: “You never know.”

Sherlock Holmes? Kitsis: “Here’s something interesting. Originally the sheriff was Sherlock Holmes. He was going to be a detective and his curse was he was in a town with no mystery. So he was this bored sheriff. And there was a rights issue so we could not get it.”

Everybody else is doing it. Horowitz: “Everybody else overcame it.” Kitsis: “But now we’re so in love with the BBC’s Sherlock, I don’t want to even play in that arena. We’ll never have Sherlock unless Benedict Cumberbatch wants to come on.”

Tron? Kitsis: “I could see Alan Bradley being the IT guy in Storybrooke.”

Mary Poppins? Kitsis: “In-bounds, but it won’t be this year.”

Let’s see, what else… Kitsis: “Are we doing Fifty Shades of Grey? Yes!”

Want more Once Upon scoop? First, if you’re not reading Hillary’s Busis’ Once Upon recaps, you’re missing out. Here’s our interview with Robert Carlyle about how he created Rumpelstiltskin. Here’s our video about the show’s costumes. Here’s our story on how Once Upon scripts are full of cursing. But the best stuff was saved for this week’s print edition of Entertainment Weekly here: