It's that time of year again, when Once Upon a Time fans get to let their dreams go wild with anticipation over what new characters will arrive in the upcoming season, knowing that the answers will come as production rolls along. It appears Season 6 will finally be the one where audiences get to meet the genie-toting Aladdin and Jasmine, which is complemented by the casting of the Greek god of dreams Morpheus, who will also be around I hope there's some kind of product placement for lamp polish involved.
Now, let's take this first part with 1,001 Arabian grains of salt for the time being, given no one from the show has officially confirmed anything. The rumorish news comes from TVLine, where it's claimed Aladdin and Jasmine are the characters that were actually being cast some weeks back, when the outlet first reported the show was adding Sinbad and Scheherezade. So at this point, it's unclear if that means the sailor and storyteller are both completely off the table now, or if there's something else being worked out.
Fans of the show are most likely more familiar with Aladdin from the 1992 Disney animation, and that's definitely where they know Jasmine from, since she differs from the princess from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. Fans of the show (and the hit movie) have clamored for Aladdin and Jasmine for a while now, and even though parts of that story were told in other seasons - Jafar like whoa - creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have openly said they also still want to use them. So they are more feasible choices for any pairs of Middle Eastern characters making it into this show's universe.
Hear me out on why getting Aladdin and Jasmine, in this specific case, would be disappointing. The show is intentionally breaking away from the Disney-verse of characters, with the Land of Untold Stories coming into the fold along with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Sinbad and Scheherezade would have been solid additions in that respect, as well as how each's attributes would fit the show's narrative and how it could introduce something different to viewers. Then again, perhaps this version of Aladdin will be closer to the original stories to separate it from reminders of Robin Williams singing along to every scene. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, either.)
Giles Matthey, who starred in 24: Live Another Day and recurred in True Blood, has been cast as dream man Morpheus, according to EW. Belle, who is currently zonked out due to that whole sleeping curse thing, will reportedly be interacting with Morpheus in her dream-state. He will also spend some time with Robert Carlyle's Rumple.
Once Upon a Time will continue wowing viewers with characters from the page and beyond - don't forget that Dr. Hopper is returning - when Season 6 debuts on ABC on Sunday, September 25, at 8:00 p.m. ET. To see when all your favorite TV characters will be back on the small screen, check out our fall premiere schedule.
