Convention - Comic Con France 2026 : Once Upon a Time brought Lana Parrilla and Sean Maguire back to Storybrooke in Villepinte

By Mulder, Villepinte, Parc des Expositions, 19 april 2026

At Comic Con France 2026, held at the Parc des Expositions Paris-Nord Villepinte on April 18 and 19, the Sunday panel dedicated to Once Upon a Time offered fans one of the weekend’s most warmly nostalgic moments, with Lana Parrilla and Sean Maguire reunited on stage to revisit the magical universe of Storybrooke, the Enchanted Forest and one of the series’ most beloved romantic dynamics. Officially announced by Comic Con France as attending both days, Lana Parrilla was presented as the unforgettable Regina Mills / The Evil Queen, while Sean Maguire was introduced as Robin Hood / Robin Of Locksley, with the convention promoting their reunion as a major event for fans of the ABC fantasy series.

The atmosphere in Villepinte carried that particular convention magic that happens when a show has long ended but clearly never left its audience. Once Upon a Time, created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, originally aired on ABC from 2011 to 2018 and ran for seven seasons, building its identity around the contrast between fairy-tale realms and the cursed Maine town of Storybrooke, where characters such as Emma Swan, Henry Mills, Snow White, Prince Charming, Rumplestiltskin, Captain Hook and Regina Mills had to rediscover who they truly were. The series remains easy to revisit today, with all seven seasons and 155 episodes having been made available on Hulu in 2023, confirming the durability of a show that mixed Disney mythology, serialized television, romance, redemption and family drama into one of the most recognizable fantasy series of the 2010s.

For many fans present on April 19, seeing Lana Parrilla and Sean Maguire together was not simply a celebrity appearance but a return to the emotional core of the “Outlaw Queen” storyline, the complicated love story between Regina Mills and Robin Hood. On stage, their complicity worked because it reflected what made the series resonate in the first place: Once Upon a Time was never only about curses, portals and magical objects, but about wounded characters trying to rewrite their own stories. That is particularly true of Regina Mills, whose journey from vengeful Evil Queen to one of the show’s most moving figures remains one of the strongest arcs in modern fantasy television. Lana Parrilla has recently said she would be open to returning to the role, explaining that the character still holds an important place in her heart and that the writing of the series deeply affected fans over the years.

The panel also gained a very French emotional touch when Nathalie Homs, the French voice of Lana Parrilla, joined toward the end of the discussion. Her presence gave the moment a lovely sense of continuity, reminding the audience that cult television travels not only through actors and characters, but also through dubbing artists who help entire generations connect with a series in their own language. For French fans, Nathalie Homs is part of the emotional memory of Regina Mills, and her arrival alongside Lana Parrilla and Sean Maguire turned the panel into something more intimate than a standard convention Q&A.

What made this reunion especially effective was the contrast between the grandeur of the mythology and the simplicity of the exchange. Once Upon a Time was built on big ideas (destiny, family, forgiveness, sacrifice, true love, second chances ) yet its strongest scenes often came from quiet emotional confrontations. In Villepinte, that same balance could be felt: a major pop-culture gathering, professional photo opportunities, autograph sessions and a packed schedule on one side; on the other, a direct conversation between artists and fans who still remember how much these characters meant to them. Comic Con France even highlighted special photo opportunities around the reunion, including an Evil Queen and Robin Hood duo with Lana Parrilla and Sean Maguire, underlining how strongly this fictional couple still defines fan attachment to the series.

For Lana Parrilla, Once Upon a Time remains the role that transformed her into an international convention icon, even though her career also includes Spin City, Boomtown, 24, Lost, Swingtown, Why Women Kill, The Lincoln Lawyer and Atlas. For Sean Maguire, the role of Robin Hood continues to occupy a special place in the collective memory of the fandom, not only because of the character’s courage and nobility, but because his relationship with Regina Mills allowed the series to explore the fragile possibility of happiness for a woman who had spent much of her life shaped by grief, anger and manipulation. Their reunion at Comic Con France 2026 therefore worked as both a celebration of nostalgia and a reminder of why these characters endured.

This Once Upon a Time panel stands as one of those convention moments that fans will remember less for a single announcement than for its emotional texture. In a weekend built around pop-culture encounters, collectibles, cosplay and shared passion, the presence of Lana Parrilla, Sean Maguire and Nathalie Homs brought back the central promise of the series: that stories survive because people keep carrying them. And on April 19, 2026, in Villepinte, Storybrooke felt very much alive again.

You can discover our photos in our Flickr page : here and here

Photos and video 4K : Boris Colletier / Mulderville