Existing fictional characters introduced to the series during the season include Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, the Count of Monte Cristo, Captain Nemo, Lady Tremaine, Beowulf, Tiger Lily and the Tin Man.

The residents of Storybrooke are faced with threats from the Evil Queen and Mr. Hyde, both with different agendas following the arrival of refugees from the Land of Untold Stories.

It leads to events testing Emma's savior abilities that result in the arrival of the Black Fairy, thus beginning the final battle that is prophesied before the casting of the original Dark Curse.

[86] Kitsis and Horowitz hired directors from their Freeform series Dead of Summer, Ron Underwood, Norman Buckley and Mairzee Almas, alongside Michael Schultz, to helm several episodes of the season.

[3] Shortly after this news, Jennifer Morrison revealed that the contracts for the original main cast members were expiring in April, expressing uncertainty about the future of the show and her participation in it beyond the current season.

[90] In March 2017, several sources had reported that four of the current main cast members in particular - Morrison, Carlyle, Lana Parrilla, and Colin O'Donoghue - were in negotiations to renew their contracts for a potential seventh season.

[91][92] In April 2017, Horowitz and Kitsis confirmed that a group of characters will indeed have their stories wrapped up by the end of the season in acknowledging the potential cast changes, saying: "We planned this finale from the beginning of the year, so whoever stays and whoever goes... all those questions have already been dealt with.

[5] On May 12, season six was announced to be the last for four additional main actors: Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Jared Gilmore, and Emilie de Ravin.

[6] The season finale revealed that Henry Mills would remain a series protagonist, with the setting shifting to a later time period in which he is portrayed as an adult by Andrew J.

[10][better source needed] It was also announced later that Hank Harris and Sam Witwer signed contracts to play two new recurring characters on the sixth season of the show, later revealed to be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde respectively.

[9] Robert Carlyle was confirmed to be returning for the sixth season as Rumplestiltskin[13] along with Rebecca Mader as Zelena[12][better source needed] and Jared Gilmore as Henry Mills.

[44] At the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that the season would see the introduction of Aladdin, played by Deniz Akdeniz, and his story would feature the return of Jafar, now portrayed by Oded Fehr.

The character had previously been featured on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, portrayed by Naveen Andrews, who was unavailable for this season due to his commitment to Netflix's Sense8.

[41] 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.

[60] On March 9, it was announced that Alison Fernandez had been cast in the unidentified female role, also later revealed in the finale to be Henry's daughter Lucy.

[111] On May 12, 2017, showrunners Horowitz and Kitsis confirmed that five more cast members, in addition to Morrison, would not be returning to the show as regulars for a seventh season: Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Jared Gilmore, Emilie de Ravin, and Rebecca Mader.

[6] In their personal goodbyes to fans, both de Ravin and Mader cited the show's decision to move forward in a new creative direction as the reason for their departures.