Will More Past Stars Return to ‘Grey’s Anatomy’? It Seems Likely

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

Our mind is still reeling after ABC surprised us with a Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepard (Patrick Dempsey) reunion on last week’s season 17 premiere of Grey’s Anatomy. Now that the deceased character is set to appear in at least three more episodes, we can’t help but wonder if the writers are bringing back other past stars.

As it turns out, it’s entirely possible. Executive producers Andy Reaser and Meg Marinis recently sat down for an interview with People magazine and confirmed that Dempsey’s return will likely be the first of many.

“Wonderful and completely surprising things are absolutely possible,” they told the mag.

So, who will return to Grey’s Anatomy? There are endless possibilities, especially since multiple noteworthy characters have departed the show in recent seasons. This includes Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw), Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and April Kepner (Sarah Drew). Oh, and how could we forget about Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), who suddenly abandoned his career (and wife) to live on a remote farm with Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl)?

That list only accounts for characters who left the show but weren’t killed off. If the writers are planning on bringing back deceased roles (like McDreamy), things get even more complicated. To name a few, there’s George O’Malley (T.R. Knight), Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and Lexi Grey (Chyler Leigh), all of which were fan favorites before meeting their maker.

We originally thought it was impossible for these characters to return from the dead, but now that Derek Shepard has seemingly done just that, it’s safe to say that anything is possible. Grey’s Anatomy airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.

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