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 (season 6)
For the second half of the season, Wil Traval would be returning for multiple episodes, starting in episode 11, as the Sheriff of Nottingham. On October 31, it was announced that Mckenna Grace would be returning as a younger version of Emma. On December 11, Robert Carlyle revealed that Brandon Spink would be portraying a young Baelfire in episode 13. On January 6, 2017, it was announced that JoAnna Garcia would be returning as Ariel. The story line involves a team-up between Ariel, Jasmine, and Hook. On January 7, Horowitz confirmed that Gil McKinney would also be returning as Prince Eric. Two days later, it was announced that Rose McIver would also be coming back as Tinker Bell. On January 20, it was revealed that Sara Tomko was cast as Tiger Lily. The recurring character appears in at least two episodes starting in episode 17. On January 23, Horowitz announced that Patrick Fischler would return as former author Isaac Heller at some point in the second half of the season. On March 14, it was announced that episode 18 would introduce the Tin Man, played by Alex Désert, and the Cowardly Lion from the "Wizard of Oz" tale.