Comic-Con 2011: Supernatural Coverage and Panel

Supernatural returns from the Hell of summer hiatus for a seventh season. Arriving for yet another year at San Diego Comic-Con, this time, with the full cast in attendance!

So what can we expect? News of Lord Castiel, poor Sammy getting his memories from Hell back or more cowboy boots for Dean? Read on for our breakdown of point-by-point details from the panel!

• Well, look at this lovely sneak peak of season seven, introduced by none other than Director Jensen Ackles himself! Preceded by the season seven info of “The Road So Far” the scene comes from the season’s third episode, directed by Ackles. It even features Firefly’s Jewel Staite!
• Jewel furiously packs as Sam enters the room to confront her, brandishing a knife. She asks how he found her, and he produces a receipt credited to the name “Amy Pond!” Hardy har har. Sam observes the blood on her hand and assumes she’s killing again, and he’ll have to kill her were that the case. We then see a flashback of the two as young teenagers, bonding over their family-moving lifestyle. Sam then moves in for what could be his first real kiss! Back in 2011, she agrees to show him what she’s hiding if he drops the knife. She moves toward a door and opens it, revealing... A CUT TO BLACK.
• Jensen notes that directing his second episode was a bit harder given he had more screen time this time around.
• Of course the big question in the room was what’s to become of Castiel as the new God? And what of Misha Collins’ reduced role this season? Frankly, Misha’s surprised no one’s written a God role for him before, but playing that aspect of the character is an interesting question. Executive producer Sera Gamble wont reveal just how involved Castiel will be, but says that Cas will be in the first few episodes. After which, she’ll be more willing to address the question.
• We’ll also see Crowley early on, finding out what Castiel’s “big plans” for the demon are.
• Writer Ben Edlund isn’t sure how to create another meta story after “The French Mistake,” but thinks there’s lots of room to play with the form. He has some crazy ideas for more experiments, like ghost chasers or putting the boys on a spaceship!
• We’ll also see more of Sam’s missing past now that he has his memories back. Jared Padalecki notes that Sam dealing with his time in hell will make the show scary again, as he’s way out of his league. Sam will have trouble coming to terms with what reality he’s in.
• Dean accepts that he’ll never have an ordinary life, leaving Lisa and Ben in the past.
• The question on every fans’ mind is will Chuck return to challenge Castiel? Gamble says “Chuck does not appear in the early part of the season, we have no plan for him to.” Castiel on the other hand feels that God, as a father, abandoned him. So now that he’s taken over his father’s job, he plays God as he imagined he should be, making up for all his father’s “mistakes.”
• Yay returning characters! Not only will Death and Sheriff Mills show their faces, but Jo will return as well!
• There was a question about Misha’s Twitter followers labeling him the Anti-Christ, which the actor cryptically notes is “ironic” when you see the first episode.
• Sera says that there are plans in place for whether or not seven is the final season for Supernatural, but they’d gladly continue open-endedly. There’s new blood in the writers room this year, which brings new energy.
• Look forward to the season six gag reel, as the DVD arrives one week before the season premiere!

Not bad, eh Supernatural fans? Stay tuned this fall as we bow down before Lord Castiel for season seven of Supernatural, Fridays on The CW!