'Once Upon A Time' villains for the second half of season 4

With the first half of season four over, Once Upon A Time has introduced a new villain, Cruella de Vil, played by Dracula alumn Victoria Smurfit. There has been some controversy over this particular addition to the Once Upon A Time mythology as she doesn’t quite fit the magical fantasy world image. However, in an interview with Hollywood Reporter, co-creator Eddy Kitsis had this to say: Cruella is “a lot of fun. She is absolutely who you would want to spend a weekend with. We could tell you that her backstory is different than the one in the movie. And she may even have powers we didn't realize she had.” If that’s the case, then she may squeeze in after all. Though, I have to admit that it’s hard to image what kind of powers Cruella could possess.

The second half of season four will also see the return of Maleficent, portrayed by Kristin Bauer van Straten. Though her costume is remarkably different from that in season one, it is the same actress. The drastic costume change is presumably due to Angelina Jolie’s recent portrayal of the Sleeping Beauty villain. You can see the comparisons below.

Once Upon A Time’s season one Maleficent:

Once Upon A Time’s new look for Maleficent (or older look if you consider that this is all taking place in a pre-Regina flashback):

Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent, which is based on the original Disney animated version.

Image via Twitter from Maleficent

On the topic of Maleficent, Horowitz admits, “We're going to see how the Evil Queen met [her]… and how that relationship started.” Kitsis adds, “But what Regina did to her is secondary to what someone else did to her. And that we're going to explain pretty quickly. And it will be, probably, someone you didn't expect.”

Maleficent, however, is not the only returning villain. Also returning in the second half of season four is the sea witch, Ursula. Previously Ursula was computer generated rather than portrayed by an actress, except for when Regina pretended to be her. Now we get to see Ursula for real, thanks to Merrin Dungey, probably best known for her role on King of Queens

Along with Ursula, we’ll get to see her father. Who is Ursula’s father? According to Deadline her father is none other than Poseidon, god of the sea. He will be portrayed by Ernie Hudson, and is scheduled to appear in episode 15. To tie everything together, JoAnna Garcia Swisher will be returning as Ariel. This news was tweeted by co-creator Adam Horowitz on December 19, 2014.

Image via Twitter from Adam Horowitz

Finally, when asked what the second half of this season will encompass, Kitsis replied, “I would say that right now, the thing we're excited about is what makes a hero and what makes a villain. And what is a happy ending.” For some, a happy ending already occurred with the letting go of Frozen, and for others it may be the revival of recently destroyed relationships. Only time will tell what Kitsis and Horowitz think a happy ending is, and what that will mean for the inhabitants of Storybrooke.

Image courtesy of Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com