5 ‘Once Upon a Time’ Characters We Want to See Return This Season

Even though Once Upon a Time has undergone a slight reboot in Season Seven, telling a brand new story and introducing new characters, the series has found a way to tie into its roots from time to time.

In addition to having Regina, Hook, and Rumple take on new roles in Hyperion Heights this season, Once has started to bring back the former characters for small stints, one or two episodes at a time.

Emma came back this season to tell Henry she was pregnant, Belle had an entire episode dedicated to her — the most well-received episode of the season — and producers have already revealed plans to have Zelena return at some point, bringing along her child as a new character.

Once Upon a Time is making it abundantly clear that it will continue to call back to the original story by bringing old characters around again, and it had me thinking about other Storybrooke residents we’d like to see appear on the show again in the future. Since death doesn’t mean quite as much in the world of magic, there’s really nothing keeping any former characters from returning to action, even for just one episode.

So, as Season Seven continues, who should get a second chance in Hyperion Heights? Here are five former Once Upon a Time characters who deserve a series comeback.

Mulan

Played perfectly by Jamie Chung, Mulan was one of the strongest warriors in all of Once Upon a Time. More than her strength though, Mulan had very strong story that was never fully explored.

The character first appeared as a knight for Prince Phillip, and she promised to help him rescue his true love, Aurora. As it turns out, Mulan was actually in love the entire time, and she couldn’t bear seeing the couple raise a child together. So she bolted, joining Robin Hood’s band and was essentially written out of the narrative.

Mulan clearly had a troubled past, but we never got to actually see that. Mulan’s classic narrative, about a daughter who joined her father’s war, was left out of this story, so we didn’t have the chance to know how the young soldier became who we knew her to be.

There is still so much of Mulan’s history to explore, and she would fit right in with the strong female characters of Hyperion Heights.

Peter Pan

To this day, Peter Pan remains one of the most intriguing and dangerous villains in the history of Once Upon a Time. 

Originally Rumple’s father, the evil man-turned-eternal boy learned, like most of us, that the world can be a cruel place, and he wanted to shelter himself and other kids from evil. Unfortunately, he took things too far, becoming a notorious villain.

Rumple ultimately killed Pan, but characters have come back from much worse before. Wouldn’t it be great to have Pan, or some version of him, return to steal away Henry’s daughter in this season, just as he did to Emma all those years ago?

The Huntsman

Once Upon a Time‘s Huntsman, played by Jamie Dornan, is the definition of criminally underused. 

The character was charming, but you could tell he had an edge to him. He straddled the line between good and evil better than even Hook, but Huntsman never actually had the chance to explore what was going on beneath the surface. After just six episodes, the character was killed off to prove how truly evil Regina was.

Now that Roni is learning about her past, potentially discovering her former life in Storybrooke, it would be great to see her former lover return to haunt her.

Unfortunately, Dornan’s career has blown up since his role as the Huntsman, having taken a starring role in the Fifty Shades of Grey movies. It would probably be difficult to get the actor back on the series at this point.

Neal Cassidy

Ever the hero, Neal Cassidy will always be remembered as one of the most lovable characters on Once Upon a Time.

Emma is with Hook now, so the love triangle between them and Neal is off the table, but the dynamic with Henry is still worth exploring further.

Henry is now an adult, and there’s a lot about his past that he still doesn’t know or understand. A visit from Neal could really shake his life up in a positive way, and bring the story back to its roots of the love between a parent and a child.

Neal has already returned once, so he could do it again, right?

Anton

Anton only appeared in a couple of episodes of Once Upon a Time, but he was just so damn lovable!

Played by Lost star Jorge Garcia, Anton was a giant who befriended the people of Storybrooke. He was a bit of an outcast with the other giants, since he was the smallest of the bunch, but found favor amongst his human counterparts.

More than his fun personality and close friendships with the dwarves, Anton was useful to the series in that he could grow the magic beans that helped transport characters between worlds. If Henry is in a bind this season, re-introducing Anton could be a solid solution.

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