Kristen Stewart not returning for Snow White and the Huntsman 2

After the departure of director Rupert Sanders it seems that Universal has settled on a director for the Snow White and the Huntsman sequel. He is former Walking Dead showrunner, Frank Darabont. In addition to Darabont entering negotiations to direct, we also learned that Kristen Stewart is not returning for the sequel.

Snow White and the Huntsman opened back in 2012 to so-so reviews and it was severely overshadowed by the affair between Sanders and Stewart which resulted in a divorce for Sanders and a break-up for Stewart. I think most people went to see this movie primarily for that reason, but that's just a theory.
News that Stewart is apparently being omitted from the sequel isn't really a surprise for a couple reasons. First off, Universal announced over a year ago they had basically dropped her from the future films due to the drama that surrounded her at that time. The initial story then was they decided to move forward with a spin-off about the Huntsman (aka, Chris Hemsworth) instead of pursuing further projects with Stewart. In addition to that, since the famous affair that basically ruined her post-Twilight high, she has had only two film appearances with absolutely none in 2013. Her last credit prior to 2014 was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 which was released in November 2012. She has recently starred in Camp X-Ray where she portrayed an Army guard in Guantanamo Bay and she was hit at Cannes last month for her portrayal of an actress' young assistant in Clouds of Sils Maria. She's currently filming American Ultra where she is reuniting with co-star Jesse Eisenberg. Point being... it is possible that Universal came back around to her and she declined. I don't think I would blame her if that is the case. I would imagine Snow White holds some bad memories and karma.

As far as Frank Darabont goes, he is a somewhat surprising addition to this project. He has apparently beat out directors Gavin O'Conner and Andres Muschietti for the job and is on board with expanding the Huntsman without any help from Kristen Stewart. It's no doubt going to be difficult to restart this Snow White tale without their leading lady. Lucky for Darabont and Universal, Chris Hemsworth has a big enough fanbase to fill theater seats.

Universal is apparently hoping for a 2016 release for Snow White and the Huntsman 2. What do you guys think about a Stewart-less Snow White adaptation? Even more important, how do you think Darabont will do?
I personally wasn't the biggest fan of Snow White and the Huntsman. It definitely won the 2012 cake in the sense that it was a lot more enjoyable than Mirror, Mirror but that still doesn't mean it was great. The best part about the entire flick was Charlize Theron. Kristen Stewart was miscast in the first place, so I think it's best that she has since departed this franchise.