Although showrunner Krista Vernoff has said that she's "trying to get someone back" for season 16, we don't know yet who she was talking about, or if their return is a done deal. However, 16 seasons in, Grey's Anatomy has no shortage of former cast members to choose from, and even if the actor Vernoff was talking about falls through, we still suspect that at least one familiar face will show up this season. The past few seasons have often leaned into nostalgia for the early seasons of the show, and season 15 even found a way to work in brief appearances from long-dead characters like George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), and Derek Shepherd.
Given the creative ways Grey's has been known to bring people back, Vernoff could just as easily be referring to a character who departed Grey-Sloan Memorial on their own terms, or to a deceased character who left in a body bag. We've got our theories about who it might be, but nothing is really off the table at this point. The only thing we know for sure is that we're excited to see who Grey's manages to pull back into the fold this time.