Sean Maguire's return to ABC's Once Upon a Time won't just be in flashbacks.

Fans of "Outlaw Queen" have been mourning the death of Robin Hood (Maguire) ever since he sacrificed himself for Regina (Lana Parrilla). But Maguire is coming back in season 6 in some capacity, but considering Robin is clearly dead, fans are speculating on exactly how he will return.

Now, Once Upon a Time executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are revealing that his return won't be through simple flashbacks.

"It's definitely not just him in flashbacks, we can guarantee that," Kitsis told Entertainment Weekly this week, with Horowitz adding, "It's multiple episodes, it's not just in flashback, but it's not necessarily what you'd expect. How he integrates into the story, we want to keep a surprise and unexpected. It's an important part of the main story once it happens."

The showrunners previously alluded to the fact that Maguire's return wouldn't necessarily be the average return.

"We're thrilled to have Sean back for this story arc and are excited for the audience to see what we have planned, which in the wake of his character's heartbreaking demise, is something we hope is unexpected and surprising," Kitsis and Horowitz said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly in late September.

They noted that they have been getting tweets all the time about Robin's death. "We see those tweets every day - all 3,000 of them, every two seconds," Kitsis said, discussing Outlaw Queen shippers' anger. "We've had loss on this show, we've had people come back. We're not going to the Underworld this year, so I can tell you that a lot of this year is about Regina dealing with loss and moving on, because I think Regina has the most unfair luck of anybody, but that's what makes her Regina."

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Watch the promo for the next episode of Once Upon a Time here:

Tags: Once Upon A Time television ABC