Filming of Once Upon A Time's third season will be kicking off on July 12, according to actress Lana Parilla, and although her character Regina looked well on the road to redemption in season 2, it's rumored she may yet see a turn toward the bad this time around.

Regina may have once nearly gave her own life to save Storybrooke, but showrunner Eddy Kitsis suggested her journey on the Jolly Roger may have her falling back on some old habits.

"Right now, on that ship, she'll do whatever it takes to get her son back," Kitsis told Natalie Abrams of TV Guide on June 11. "If that means Regina is required, she'll be Regina, but if that means the Evil Queen is required, watch out."

Fellow showrunner Adam Horowitz did note that Regina likely interprets those concepts just a little bit differently than most others.

"I don't think Regina thinks of it in terms of good and evil the way the other characters look at her and paint her with those strokes," he continued. "Regina thinks about it in terms of what she wants, what her pain is, what she needs and how she's going to get it. How everyone else interprets it is on them."

Though the Jolly Roger passengers' story is likely to get a lot of play during Once Upon A Time's upcoming season, there are still question about what will happen to some of the other characters, including Mulan and Aurora. The two were last seen during May's finale ushering Prince Phillip's soul back from a wraith, as a prelude to their discovery of an unconscious Neal on the shore.

Horowitz confirmed to TV Line on June 13 that there would be some explanation during the upcoming season, and not a moment too soon: the website reported that both Mulan and Aurora's portrayers, Jamie Chung and Sarah Bolger, have midseason pilots in the works.

Fans have also been wondering about the mysterious organization known as the "Home Office" who seem bent on destroying magic in the real world. Horowitz promised TV Guide in a June 11 post that the show would reveal a little bit more in the upcoming season, including a possible link-up with Peter Pan. 

"We're going to explain pretty quickly what it is," he said, "and how, as we showed in the finale, Greg and Tamara were unwittingly working for Peter Pan, and how that all connects."

Once Upon A Time will return in the fall 2013 season.

Tags: Once Upon A Time Season 3