Zelena (Once Upon a Time)
In December 2013, Rebecca Mader was cast as the Wicked Witch of the West. She made multiple appearances during the second half of season three and was promoted to a series regular for the show's fifth season. The role of the Wicked Witch of the West was written specifically for Rebecca Mader. It was announced that the writers had chosen not to continue with Zelena's storyline and Mader would not be returning for the seventh season of the show. However, Mader later revealed that she would be returning for multiple season seven episodes.
Once Upon a Time (TV series)
In May 2017, the series was renewed for a seventh and final season consisting of 22 episodes, which marked a soft reboot. Years later, Lucy (Alison Fernandez) arrives in the fictional neighborhood of Hyperion Heights in Seattle, Washington with her "Once Upon a Time" book to find her father Henry Mills (Andrew J. West) who is needed by his family. Characters from the New Enchanted Forest were brought to Hyperion Heights under a new curse and are caught in a rising conflict involving Cinderella (Dania Ramirez) and Lady Tremaine (Gabrielle Anwar) whose dangerous history with Mother Gothel (Emma Booth) is revealed as well as the agendas of Dr. Facilier (Daniel Francis). Two worlds collide when the arrival of Wish Realm Rumplestiltskin and Wish Henry Mills as they plot and culminates on every characters' happy endings by separating them into separate realms, into their own separate storybooks, leading to someone making the ultimate sacrifice.