Another year, another panel for Supernatural in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con!

Season 14 spoilers below!

Last year’s introduction may be a little hard to beat, what with Kansas playing the show’s anthem, Carry On My Wayward Son, but the audience in Hall H was treated this time to a sizzle reel from Season 13 and a first look at Micheal!Dean from Season 14, in which a very different sounding Jensen Ackles has a little Q&A with a man (almost entirely in Arabic) about what humanity, as well as this particular human, wants.

After the sizzle reel and preview, moderators Rob Benedict and Richard Speight Jr (God and Gabe, respectively) come onstage and do their own rendition of Kansas before introducing the panel (in order of seating): Robert Singer, Andrew Dabb, Misha Collins, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Alexander Calvert, Eugenie Ross-Leming, and Brad Buckner.

What’s going on with Dean?

One of the first things asks when the panel is onstage is to Jensen Ackles about how it felt playing Michael. Ackles hasn’t played any other character for 13 years, unlike his co-stars, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins, who have both plated several characters, including Lucifer. Ackles replied that it’s nice to “kick off the dust” and work his acting muscles a bit more. In earlier interviews he joked about getting notes again for the first time in a while, and that it’s nice to change things up a bit. We also learned that a lot of Micheal’s dapper style is inspired by Jensen’s love of the show Peaky Blinders and producer Robert Singer joked that Jensen’s “collaboration” on wardrobe is basically Jensen telling them what he wants to wear and wardrobe doing what he says. Ackles also said he watched and talked to Christian Keyes about mannerisms and techniques to keep continuity, then demonstrated the “coat flick”

 

It also sounds like we’ll be going without seeing Dean for a while! “Dean’s kinda shotgun while Micheal is driving,” Ackles tells the audience before Showrunner Dabb jokes that Micheal isn’t funny, so all the comedic stuff has been falling on Misha “which did not work.”  It was also mentioned that, while Michael “absolutely” has a plan, this world doesn’t have the angels to amass anymore so it will be interesting to see who he will recruit and organize. Jared added that this was the first time he’d seen the new scene and it gave him chills.

Speaking of Jared and Misha, what are Sam and Cas up to?

Looks like Sam will be taking on more of a leadership role this season, without Dean. Padalecki said Sam is going to have to take everything he’s learned from Dean and use it to help the Apocalypse World refugees. Collins said that Cas will have to “roll up his trenchcoat sleeves” and take on more of a front-line role, as well as take Jack (who has lost his powers) under his wing, which devolved into jokes about Alex’s resemblance to Misha. “He keeps asking for a 23 & Me, and I’m like, no, not today, Sir” Alex joked.

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What about Jack?

After welcoming Alex to his first SDCC panel, Speight asks how Jack is adjusting to having no powers. “It’s really cool to have all these things going for you and have them all taken away.” he joked. Jared asked Alex then if it’s harder to play Lucifer’s son, or to act with co-workers  trying to kick him in the balls. Alex replied that it’s really helped him focus on the loss and the pain Jack is going through. Speight joked that the abuse from Jared and Jensen has reached a new level last season, to the point that Speight re-blocked their scenes for his episode. Misha joked about the on-set (and in panel) abuse “feeling like love” and Alex quipped that Misha is almost as bad as the boys. Speight asked how the relationships between Jack and Cas will evolve, and Alex replied that “It’s really cool that we get to have this sustained, celestial bond, but I think the ultimate thing is getting Dean back.”

Meanwhile, Jensen teased Rob Benedict about how Alex as an actor held such power over the writers that they found a way to keep him on the show by removing his physical powers (unlike like God, who is clearly too omnipotent to be kept on the show).

3ooth episode and returning cast?

“He (Jensen) thought that the 300th episode… should be called ‘The 300’ and we should be wearing togas.” Jared joked while Jensen corrected him “I said clip show!” The show’s 300th episode will be the 13th episode this season, and while Singer will be directing it, Andrew Dabb “has ideas” that he hasn’t been sharing. It also sounds like, though we’re still in mourning over Wayward Sisters not being picked up, Jody Mills and some of the other Wayward family will be returning this season, along with Rowena. “Any plans to bring back Ruby?” Jared joked before calling to his wife in the audience.

Other things in the panel:

  • Misha handed out voter registration forms during the panel
  • Fan Question:
    • “What scifi monster do you want to go up against?” Misha: “Donald Trump.” Robert Singer (over cheers from the crowd): “Some things are just too scary.”
  • Jensen Ackles: “When all is said and done and the show finally comes to an end, there’s a lot of things I’ll take with me. One thing is the car because they’ll call cut and you’ll see a dust cloud.”
  • Misha on why the show has lasted this long: “I think there’s some unique dynamics within this show and fandom that makes it so special. The bonds we all form, it coalesces into a family. We’ve formed real emotional bonds here and with the characters”

Check out Jensen’s interview with TVLine below:

 

Supernatural returns Oct. 11th at 8/7c on The CW