Once Upon A Time Finds Its Captain Hook

My impression of Captain Hook is an amalgam of Dustin Hoffman (Hook) and the Disney animated version of the character, with a few shades of Cyril Ritchard from the Mary Martin Peter Pan mixed in. So I'm a little thrown by the face attached to Once Upon a Time's upcoming version of the role. But thrown is a good thing, especially for a show like this, where familiar characters come with their own twists and turns as the series progresses and we get to know them better.

We learned at Comic Con that Captain James Hook, known pirate and nemesis to one Peter Pan, would be introduced in the upcoming second season of ABC's storybook-focused drama series Once Upon a Time. Today Deadline posted the news that the series has cast Irish actor Colin O'Donoghue in the recurring role. O'Donoghue had a starring role in the film The Rite, but most of his credits before that are for shows in Ireland.

Hello, Captain Hook. What's your story? That's one of the fun things about Once Upon a Time. While we know the story on which the character is based, it will be especially exciting to see how he's developed in the ABC drama, which jumps between a fairytale world where the characters exist in their "natural" form, and the modern-day world, where they've been banished by a witch's curse.

We know Hook as a villain, but perhaps there's more to him than meets the eye. They've certainly gone in a younger direction than how I think most of us picture Hook, so perhaps there's some romantic entanglements in store for him? Or if they're sticking close to his base-story, his focus may be on defeating Peter Pan, or in the case of Storybrooke, any other child that might cross his path. If that's the case, better watch your back, Henry! There's a great big codfish on the way!

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.