New prison, new tattoos, new Michael? Dominic Purcell & Wentworth Miller tease ‘…

The “Prison Break” revival is just around the corner — and to whet our appetites, the cast and crew hit Wondercon on Friday (March 31) to tease the show’s explosive return.

Like many fans out there, we never really expected to return to this world. Remember, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) did officially die. Boy, what a difference seven years makes!

There are a lot of questions on our minds going into “Prison Break’s” new season — seriously, how is Michael still alive? — and while we didn’t get an answer to that question, Screener did learn a whole bunch of details worth mulling over before the show’s triumphant return.

RELATED: ‘Prison Break’ exclusive: Inside Dominic Purcell & Wentworth Miller’s brotherly bond

The CW’s ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ inspired the ‘Prison Break’ revival

Vaun Wilmott, executive producer: I think the seed of it was Wentworth and Dom working on “Legends of Tomorrow” together… They were back together again, they were acting together again, and the conversation just came up on set. Wow, wouldn’t it be great if we could do that again?

And they went to Dawn Olmstead, one of the original executive producers who was really integral to the whole first show, and she loved the idea. They got Paul [original showrunner Scheuring] on board, and once they had the idea on how to do it, it was just straight to the races.

Lincoln’s spiraled a bit since the Season 4 finale

Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows): He’s gone back to thugdom… Once the death of his brother occurred, you know: That was it. He was struggling with his own demons and just trying to survive… Lincoln’s a survivor, he went back to the streets and tried to get his life together — and it wasn’t working, it was falling apart.

Bringing Michael back from the dead was the key to bringing ‘Prison Break’ back to life

Vaun: I think the whole idea of doing the show again really needed that to be answered in a really satisfying, interesting way. And I think once Paul cracked that and figured that out: How to do it, how to do it elegantly and how to make it interesting… How to show seven years had passed and all these characters had changed and grown…

Once they had that, it unlocked doing it again — that was the key question everyone was asking.

RELATED: Stage a ‘Prison Break,’ get a broken nose: Dominic Purcell recovering from on-set injuries

This isn’t the same Michael Scofield we used to know

Wentworth Miller: Michael, for me, has always existed in the gray scale. He’s not necessarily been the white knight, and he’s done some not-so-great things. And in the 7-year-gap, he’s been off doing… We don’t know what!

When Michael and Lincoln finally come together… There is an unrecognizable quality to Michael, now. There’s a mystery there that needs to be solved. And the question is: How bad has he gotten? How far over to the dark side has he gone? Can he come back?

A new season means all-new tattoos

Wentworth: In the original, Michael got all those tattoos lasered off. I don’t know if anyone remembers that but me — it took about 30 seconds [Laughs]. So we’re starting from scratch this time around with new tattoos. And they serve a very different purpose — which of course I can’t reveal — but I’m excited for that, it’s a cool feature.

There could be more ‘Prison Break’ still to come

Vaun: If the show is really well received and the ratings are great, if there’s a desire on the part of the network… You never say never. It depends on the availability of the actors — but the good news is, the actors are all excited about doing it again, and so I think there’s a possibility.

“Prison Break” Season 5 premieres Tuesday, April 4, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on FOX. Edited for length and clarity.

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