‘Abbott Elementary’ cast Quinta Brunson teases season 4 at Comic-Con

What did Quinta Brunson and the cast of “Abbott Elementary” do during their summer vacation? Head to San Diego Comic-Con for details on the upcoming fourth season of the hit ABC comedy.

Fresh off earning nine Emmy nominations (the most the comedy has received in a single season), Brunson and the cast – Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti, Lisa Ann Walter, William Stanford Davis and Sheryl Lee Ralph – located on stage at the Indigo Ballroom takes fans behind the scenes of the show.

“This was my dream to come to Comic-Con,” Brunson said as he took in the surreal moment and said how incredible it was to see the “big faces” of the cast on a billboard on the side of a hotel in San Diego. In fact, she was so excited that she snuck into a panel to listen to Marvel chief Kevin Feige and Marvel Comics EIC CB Cebulski discuss what it takes to create good characters. “I wanted to wear a Black Widow costume, but I backed out, I was scared,” Brunson told the laughing crowd.

When asked what has changed the most in the past three years, the Emmy winner admitted that this experience was the first time she stopped being proud of herself.

“The last three years have been kind of a blur for me, and I’ve had to learn how to take moments and put my feet on the ground and look around,” Brunson added. “Becoming a sitcom at Comic-Con – ‘Abbott’ was almost a cartoon, and it ended up being live-action, but we haven’t lost our cartoon roots – it’s just special to be here.”

But before taking the stage, attendees were treated to a refresher screening of the Season 3 finale. In the episode, titled “Party,” Janine (Brunson) hosted an epic end-of-year party for all of Abbott’s teachers. As if anyone could forget that the episode ends with the will-they-won’t-they romance between Janine and Gregory (Williams) falling firmly into the “they will” category, when the teachers finally kiss.

What happened after Gregory closed the door on the mockumentary crew so he and Janine could make out in private? All will be revealed when “Abbott” returns on Wednesday, October 9 at 9:30pm on ABC; the show will stream on Hulu the next day. The writers’ room is already hard at work on Season 4’s 22 episodes — about six of the stories have been broken so far, executive producer Patrick Schumacker said.

Then Brunson decided to break some news (which even surprised some cast members): “We’re going to do an interesting crossover this season,” she said, as the audience gasped and cheered. “I’m not going to tell you who, or what, or where, or when, but it’s really exciting and I think it will change television as we know it.” (“House of the Dragon,” Walter joked.)

Fresh from the panel, the cast of “Abbott Elementary” sat down in the Variety Comic-Con Studio, presented by Google TV, to further develop that crossover episode.

“The Bear,” “The Simpsons,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” are some of the shows in the Disney catalog that “Abbott Elementary” could potentially cross over with. But Brunson is keeping her lips tight. However, she did express her excitement for that episode, recalling how she loved watching when Disney Channel released “That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana,” a crossover episode featuring the casts of “That’s So Raven,” “The Suite Life of Zack’. & Cody” and “Hannah Montana.”

“Those things are what reinvigorates TV audiences, and I think it’s always fun to find ways to reinvigorate our audience,” she explained. “What’s important about ‘Abbott’ is that we protect the show. Since it’s a mockumentary, we have to protect what we do, but find a way to still be able to do something so cool. It really makes me very happy. It’s like an ode to the medium.”

The cast did say that one thing they are looking forward to is seeing the characters interact on the show outside of school, confirming that Melissa and Jacob will still be roommates in season 4 and that they are eager to continue exploring those character relationships and dynamics.

Most importantly, has Ava Coleman (the beloved principle) found someone to match her freak in season 4?

“I don’t know, but that sounds exciting… who can match her freak is the question,” James said before pointing to Brunson and saying, “Who would I trust to match her freak is this person right here.”

Watch the full interview above to see the cast share their favorite moments from Season 3.