The Originals’ fourth season kicked off with a five-year time jump, which introduced viewers to a 7-year-old Hope Mikaelson, played by Summer Fontana. And in the show’s fifth season, there will once again be a time jump and, along with it, a new Hope.

EW can exclusively reveal that 17-year-old Danielle Rose Russell (Wonder) will play a teenage Hope, joining the cast as a series regular for the fifth season. But could there be more to Hope’s future?

There have been rumors of a potential spin-off for the character, who ended season 4 by attending Alaric and Caroline’s school. And even though there’s no official word on that front, showrunner Julie Plec told EW back in March — when Vampire Diaries ended — that although she couldn’t make any promises, they purposefully left a few things open-ended. “While I love the world of the boarding school and all that it represents, that would be an entirely new show that I haven’t even begun to think about, but the doors were not left open unintentionally,” Plec said. “They’re open with a hope, not a promise.”