Snow White Drifts To the Dark Side in SWATH Sequel?

 Ah yes, Snow White the Trilogy. (Or is it SWATH the Franchise?) Either way, we've known from the very early on that Universal was eyeing Snow White and the Huntsman as the first (story?) in a three-movie deal and you'll be glad (? - yes there are a few question marks here) to know that the sequel is well underway and a release is planned for sometime in 2015.

So what do we know about SWATH 2?

We know Ravenna, the evil queen, (played by Charlize Theron) died - really died.
The mirror, however, did not. (Does that mean it was/is alive??)
But.
There is magic here so ya never know...
We know that despite the rumors a sequel would concentrate on the Huntsman instead of Snow White, Snow's character is confirmed as being front and center once again. (And it would make a lot of fairy tale sense if the queen became the mirror...)

But what do we REALLY know?

Both Kristen Stewart (Snow White) and Chris Hemsworth (the Huntsman) are confirmed as attached (and reportedly already gearing up for filming). The director is... still unknown (though it's definitely NOT Rupert Sanders*). The various design teams are still a question marks too (please come back Ms. Atwood!).

Fans speculate about SWATH 2

It would appear, however, that David Koepp is (still) the screenwriter (with a new, official IMDB credit and completed script tucked under his arm, just awaiting a director to add, change, approve it) and on May 1st, 2013, Mr. Koepp was reported as talking enthusiastically about the SWATH sequel to Vulture, saying:

"It's like The Empire Strikes Back. I felt like they had a really, really great idea that seemed like a natural extension of the story ... Snow White is queen now, but the mirror is still there. It doesn't bode well for our innocent little queen." Assuming even if she succeeds in vanquishing yet another evil in the second film, the fight is far from over: Koepp is already thinking past the sequel. "There's plenty to go," said Koepp, who has been pulling some of his new characters from Russian fairy tales*. "There's also a great idea for a third movie." Feel the Force, Snow.

Will Snow be whistling while she works to clean up the countrywide mess left by the evil queen? (Yawn.) Will she battle a new antagonist? (??) Or will she be her own worst enemy and become a reflection of the queen her (step)mother was?*** (I vote for this one.)

Fan-made SWATH 2 poster

The hype for the first Snow White and the Huntsman talked a lot about being more faithful to the darkness of the original (aka Grimm's) tale and was summarized very nicely by Empire Magazine (in an article well worth reading if you like the tale and/or movie.) The main push was that this was no pixie-dusted Snow White, that it was edgy and yet stayed true to the original character of Snow, both as described in the Grimm text as well as the more well known version animated by Disney. But with a sequel (and likely a third installment) on the way, will those all-important characteristics of the fairy tale heroine develop in a logical way or are we in for something completely different?

(And don't forget it was pretty clear that the story between Snow White and the Eric the Huntsman wasn't over, so there is plenty of room for romantic speculation as well.)

The only other thing we know for certain is that Ms. Stewart is "very excited" about the sequel or as she puts it: "Oh, it's gonna be f----n' amazing. No, I’m so excited about it, it’s crazy." (To which all at Universal were like "OMG Stop talking already!" so that was all we got.)

* Though The Playlist appears to be voting for Neil Jordan, [The Company of Wolves, Interview With A Vampire and the very beautiful and recent Ondine] which would be really interesting to see. I can't, however, find any whiff of that being a real possibility.

** But wait! Rewind to the Episode V hint - did you just read what I did? "New characters from Russian fairy tales"? -swoon- [If you've been reading the blog for a while you'll know I adore Russian fairy tales. From Baba Yaga to Koschei the Deathless and all the Ivans and Vasilisas in between.] I can actually see how that would fit with the direction the first film took.

*** I wanted to write something about "apples" and "giving in to temptation" but the mixed metaphor thing was getting ridiculous!

Hmm, well, Kristen could be on the road to becoming the next Evil Queen. She could also end up battling the remnants of Charlize’s magic-infused reign. But which is it?! - See more at: http://perezhilton.com/2013-05-03-kristen-stewart-evil-queen-snow-white-and-the-huntsman-sequel-villain#.UblAr-uA0hd

Hmm, well, Kristen could be on the road to becoming the next Evil Queen. She could also end up battling the remnants of Charlize’s magic-infused reign. But which is it?! - See more at: http://perezhilton.com/2013-05-03-kristen-stewart-evil-queen-snow-white-and-the-huntsman-sequel-villain#.UblAr-uA0hd