"Supernatural's" Epic Week At Comic-Con 2017
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"Supernatural's" Epic Week At Comic-Con 2017

From a surprise concert to talk shows, spoilers, photos, interviews, parties, laughs and more, the "Supernatural" cast owned SDCC 2017.

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"Supernatural's" Epic Week At Comic-Con 2017
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The "Supernatural" cast had quite the week celebrating 13 years of America's longest running fantasy television program at this year's San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC).

Fans received lots of goodies before SDCC even started, such as these adorable Sam and Dean puppies revealing the date "Supernatural" would be taking over Comic-Con:


Fans also got a look at this year's official "Supernatural" Comic-Con bag as well as TV Guide's special collectable issue with our very own Sam and Dean Winchester gracing the cover:


*SPOILER WARNING*

The TV Guide Comic-Con issue features a behind the scenes look at the season 12 episode, "Stuck in the Middle (With You)," which was directed by former cast-mate Richard Speight Jr. (The Trickster/Gabriel) and was a tribute to Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs;" a 12 question "Supernatural" quiz; and a couple of interviews including a Q&A with executive producer Andrew Dabb on what to expect in season 13. The end of last season ended with multiple characters dead, Mary Winchester trapped in the alternate universe with Lucifer, and Sam discovering Lucifer's newly born son, Jack (Alexander Calvert) aka The Nephilim - half angel and half human - sitting in a darkened room waiting with yellow eyes. One of the biggest questions is whether or not Jack will be evil because his father is the Devil, and Dabb confirmed that even though "he had an evil source" Jack is also a "blank slate." The E.P. also spoke about the alternate universe, aka the Apocalypse World, and the open possibilities to what characters they can now bring back after the audience saw an alternate version of Bobby Singer appear in the finale. Dabb says "every other Supernatural character could theoretically have an entirely new life there" and that the AU will be a "war zone." Dabb teased that one of those characters could even be the Archangel Michael. For more on Dabb's interview with TV Guide, be sure to pick up the new issue available now!

Before the crew made their way to their usual stomping grounds, Hall H, aka, "Hollywood's most important stage" and home to the biggest movies and TV shows at the convention, Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester) and Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) made a special appearance on Conan O'Brien's talk show "Conan" on Wednesday the 19th live from Comic-Con.


On the show, Conan complimented Jared and Jensen's acting and how their real-life friendship strengthens their chemistry onscreen. The guys also discussed how many times their characters have died, fan experiences, their children, life in Austin (where they both reside) and more while sharing plenty of laughs. The taping of the show landed on Jared's birthday, and as a surprise Jensen arranged for the first keg from his new Family Business Beer Company to be brought out onstage so that Jared could do a keg stand in celebration, which Jared later confirmed was a genuine surprise for him. (I personally can't wait to visit Austin to check out the new brewery, as well as hopefully enjoy some of Jensen's beer at Jared's bar, San Jac Saloon).

Jared and Jensen also spoke about how in the early years of filming "Supernatural," they would sneak keg stands into each other's trailers after they were done filming for the day. Some clips of the taping are available on Team Coco's YouTube channel:




Jensen posted a photo of he and Jared with Conan on his Instagram along with the caption: "Backstage after the show...good times. Enjoy the birthday surprise we gave @jaredpadalecki tonight."

An excited Jared also tweeted about the show, along with an unedited video of the keg stand posted by a fan, Harmony, who was at the taping, saying: "Proudest moment ever."

After the taping, the boys signed autographs and took pictures with fans outside of Spreckles Theatre.

Photo by Jamie
Photos by Nobby Coburn

On Thursday and Friday, the Padalecki Family spent some time exploring Legoland and the San Diego Zoo before the boys were back at it again at Comic-Con on Friday night.

First, Jared, Jensen and Misha Collins (Castiel) played a fun game answering questions about each other on the Warner Bros. (WB) boat live on the official "Supernatural" Facebook page:

The three also got a picture with FOMO the Dolphin...

...and were their usual fun, silly selves.

The guys then hung out with TV Guide, making sure to get in some Nintendo game play in between photoshoots and interviews.



(Source: TV Guide Magazine)

Afterwards, the three spent some time with Entertainment Weekly, taking studio portraits, chatting about season 13 with EW's Samantha Highfill and dancing it out.



In their interview with Entertainment Weekly (while goofing around and teasing each other, ya know, the usual) the boys discussed a couple spoilers for the new season.

In particular, Misha says that Castiel is "more dead than usual," and he will come back "slowly." Highfill asks what Sam and Dean's first priorities are when the show returns since there is so much happening: Castiel is dead, their mother is trapped in another reality and they now have Lucifer's son, a "young man now" as Jared says, left behind without parents. Jensen says that Dean's first priority will be to kill Jack, since the boys usually don't "get lucky" in these types of situations. Jared explains that Sam disagrees and, being "ever the introspective...optimist" argues that while Jack is half Lucifer is he also half human and his mother, Kelly Kline, was a good person. As the cast and executive producers discuss throughout Comic-Con, the predicament with Jack becomes a nature vs nurture debate. The guys also shared their excitement over the "Scooby-Doo" animated/crossover episode that Bob Singer confirmed will air as season 13's 16th episode.

Jared & Jensen with Entertainment Weekly's Samantha Highfill

They wrapped up the big night at the WB's Media Mixer, where Jared and Jensen-and their life-size Funko Pop doll counterparts-were the highlight of the evening as they took pictures with fans, actors and reporters as they mingled with stars, crews and bosses from the WB/CW.

Jared, Jensen, Rob Benedict (Chuck Shurley/God) and executive producer Bob Singer spent Saturday golfing and relaxing to catch up on some rest before their big "Supernatural" day on Sunday.

Meanwhile, former cast member Genevieve Padalecki (Ruby), and Jared's wife, participated in a panel that addressed bullying. Gen tweeted that it is very important to them "as a family to instill empathy for others" and end bullying.

The big "Supernatural" Comic-Con Sunday was full of surprises, spoilers and even more fun. The morning kicked off with Jared greeting the dedicated fans who had camped out in the Hall H line (as they usually do each year) while Misha delivered donuts to the crowd.

@jarpad: "A little view of the Hall H line from MY perspective...  "

Photo by Monica D

Before the panel, Jared and Jensen had the opportunity to take a picture with Doug the Pug who was geared up like a proper Winchester.

An introductory video of Jared and Jensen in character as Sam and Dean started the panel in Hall H once the crowd filtered in. The lights dimmed and the show's unofficial theme song, "Carry On Wayward Son," began to play. The large room erupted in deafening cheers as the lights came up to reveal the band Kansas up onstage playing their famous hit. The musicians were as excited to finally meet the cast of "Supernatural" as everyone was to see them, and were honored to play the song for the fans in Hall H.

Jared, Jensen and Misha watched the performance from the back of the room. Former cast member Osric Chau (Kevin Tran) was in the crowd and posted the spectacular panel opening on his YouTube channel:


Richard Speight Jr. and Rob Benedict greeted the crowd as the panel's moderators before bringing out Jared, Jensen, Andrew Dabb and Bob Singer.


Misha was missing for a few minutes before he eventually dragged out a chair smaller than the rest as a comedic bit that "they planned in advance to mock the uncertain status of Castiel moving into season 13." Throughout the panel there was lots of playful teasing, as is common among the cast and crew, and plenty of laughs among everyone onstage.

During the panel, Jared and Jensen talked about being proud of a project that has lasted as long as "Supernatural" has. Jensen particularly enjoys that they never tell the same stories twice. Jared was blown away to look out at the crowd of fans after 13 years and see that support. They were asked about the boys playing video games on Friday and who won. Jensen was cranky because they didn't get to finish and he had been winning "Mario Kart."

The cast talked about their connection with the characters: Misha told a story that Jensen shared during an interview on Friday about a dream he had of the show ending. In the dream, Sam died and Jared, Jensen and Misha all got choked up because the idea of Jensen as Dean losing Sam is painful even (especially) to them. (In an interview later in the day, Jared spoke about the day Jensen came to set and Jared noticed he was shook up and Jensen told him about the dream and about Dean losing Sam). Jared talked about the friendship the cast and crew have with one another, that as much as they tease each other (and the "short one at the end") they have a legit friendship and 13 years in have built a lot of trust with each other.

Bob Singer talked about trusting Jared and Jensen when he's directing an episode and the trust is shared. They told a story of when Jared and Jensen switched Sam and Dean's lines in a scene during an episode to explain that trust between the cast and crew, as well as proving how well Jared and Jensen know their characters.

Jensen talked about how 13 years ago the large crowd in Hall H would have been frightening but he can face it now and says he isn't afraid of anything. Jared brings up Jensen's oldest daughter, JJ, reminding him that one day she might fall in love. Jensen joked that boys in his daughter's life is his fear and that, "Dad's with pretty little girls kill people." The guys were also asked which prop from the show was their favorite, and when the crowd starting yelling out "Baby" referring to Dean's '67 Chevy Impala, Jensen responded: "Baby is not a prop. Baby is a part of me." He then answered that his favorite prop is the angel blade because he likes the weight of it and enjoys spinning it, and Jared's favorite is the demon blade.

Besides the laughter, reminiscing and sentimentality, the panel offered up a few spoilers for the upcoming season.

It was confirmed that yes, Castiel will be returning to the show, although we won't know when the character will reappear or what the side effects of his death will be until the season airs. Regarding Jack, Sam and Dean handle the situation "differently," according to Jensen. Sam is able to relate more to Jack, and Dabb says that Jack will find himself in the "Supernatural's" version of Hell's "My Two Dads."

After Mary vanished through the rift with Lucifer to the alternate universe, Sam believes there is hope she might be alive but Dean thinks she's gone. Singer confirms that Mary is alive in the other reality, and Jack, who opened the rift in the first place as he was being born, might be the key to the boys getting their mother back. Dabb teased again that there will be characters returning to the show. Since the other world is an entirely different existence, characters that have died on the show have the possibility of returning, though they will be different from the characters the boys (or fans) are familiar with as they have lived an alternate life. Not only can characters return via the other world, but they will be returning in our world as well. Dabb mentioned that we will be seeing Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) again, as well as Missouri Moseley (Loretta Devine), who we haven't seen since season 1 and will appear in episode 3. They also discussed the "Supernatural" spin-off, "Wayward Sisters." The show will star Kim Rhodes as Sheriff Mills, and feature other well-known characters like Sheriff Donna Hanscum (Briana Buckmaster), Claire Novak (Kathryn Newton), and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen) as well as new character Patience Turner (Clark Back), the granddaughter of Missouri Moseley. The backdoor pilot will air as season 13's tenth episode.

At the end of the panel, Jared thanked the fans and told them that they exist because of them.

"Flicks and the City" posted the full "Supernatural" panel that followed after the amazing introduction here:


Immediately after the panel, the official "Supernatural" Twitter account released the following video, recapping season 12 of the show to the tune of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters."


The day continued with the crew heading to the WB signing booth where they met fans while signing autographs.


On the same day, former cast member Alaina Huffman (Abaddon) participated in the Raising Heroic Girls Panel at SDCC.

Original photo by Monica D
The panel, hosted by Heroic Girls, offered a look at "how heroic comics, movies, and toys can inspire girls to be more confident and successful by combating harmful gender norms that can hold them back." A Periscope of the panel recorded by Charlie Capen can be viewed here.

After autographs, the "Supernatural" group headed to the press room for interviews where the cast and executive producers opened up even more about the upcoming season. Jared spoke about the parallels between Sam and Jack, referring to how Sam had demon blood forced into him as a baby and was meant to be evil and do bad things. He says that Dean wants to treat Jack "like a monster instantly," which makes Sam, who Jared says might view himself as "used goods," wonder if Dean hates that part of him, too, in regards to the demon blood. Essentially, Sam wonders since Dean is "resigned" on Jack being evil, what if a part of Dean feels that way about "[Sam] still?" However, Jared confirmed that Sam and Dean love each other as much as any two humans can. That doesn't mean, though, that they sometimes won't fight or get angry or hate each other at times.

Jared says that Sam will push down his emotions and focus on Jack, on whether or not they can help nurture him to control his powers and use them for good and possibly have him figure out how to re-open the rift to get their mother back. While Sam is initially not ready to "confront his feelings" over everything that has happened, including being "heartbroken" over losing Castiel, his attempts to avoid those emotions will "build to a head." Jared thinks that Sam is "hiding some things in his optimism" that he's not dealing with. Jared also wanted to make it clear that while the brothers have a "big disagreement" about how to initially deal with Lucifer's offspring, they are not at odds with one another. Jared spoke passionately about how much he loves the characters and the family involved with the show, too.


Jensen talks about the brother's disagreement about how to deal with Jack and reiterates Jared's sentiment that the brothers are not at odds with each other like we have seen in previous seasons. While they initially have different ideas on how to approach the situation, they will "eventually get to the same place" by different routes. Jensen refers to it as "Two Men and a Baby," and says that Dean will allow Sam to do things his way but if anything goes wrong they're going to handle it Dean's way.

He confirms that season 13 picks up right where the season 12 finale ended. Jensen says the reason why Dean is ready to accept that Mary is gone is because there is so much that has happened that "he doesn't know how to process" everything. Outside of Dean's "emotional wall," all he knows to do is go after Jack. His "immediate reaction" is not to be hopeful or analytical about the situation like Sam, but more "walls up, what can I hit?" Jensen goes on to say that "luckily Sam stops him" and tries to talk sense into his brother. The struggle allows "the kid" to escape and it becomes a "bit of a manhunt." Dean will at some point have to deal with everything he's struggling to process. Jensen also confirmed that he will not be directing this season and that he declined to after his wife, Danneel, gave birth to their newborn twins. When asked about Crowley and what Sam and Dean would say if they could speak to him again, Jensen mentioned that there would probably be a "slight bit of gratitude" for sacrificing himself. Jensen says he hopes that they'll "flesh out" the hunting world a little bit more because he enjoys when they get to see other people living "similar lifestyles as the brothers," but he doesn't know if that's something the writers will be exploring right now. Regarding the end of the show, Jensen acknowledged that everyone is looking at 300 episodes as the next milestone, which would take them into season 14, but no one has said that that is planned to be the end of the series.


Misha says that when fans first see Castiel back on the show (alive) he is in a place that the show has "speculated about" but that we haven't seen yet (fans so far wonder if Misha is referring to The Empty). He also says that Castiel will be confronted by a "powerful being," who is played by a "great actor" and is "exceedingly handsome."

He says that, as far as a different iteration of the character goes, that the "Cas that comes back is not like a totally different Cas." Regarding Jack, Misha explained that they don't have scenes together until episode 6. Jack might think of Castiel as a "surrogate father," as though a "strange imprinting" may have occurred. Still, the big question is whether or not Jack is on their side. Misha also discussed that Cas will probably always "feel like an outsider" but is beginning to find a place of belonging with the Winchesters. He also feels that the important part about Castiel's death in the season 12 finale isn't how it affects him, but how it "impacts the boys." Castiel isn't shaken by his own death when he comes back, but the brothers are trying to process it.


Bob Singer says that season 12 was about "bringing family back together," and season 13 will be about what the characters do when your "family gets blown apart." The brothers essentially lost their friend, their mother, even their frenemies (in Crowley, who sacrificed himself for them, and Rowena) and are left with Lucifer's son.

In the beginning of the season, Singer says that Jack doesn't have "much control over his powers" and that, because he is half human, "doesn't want to hurt people." The problem, though, is that he "can't control himself."


While Jack will certainly cause some trouble for the boys, Andrew Dabb clarifies that the Nephilim is "not the biggest threat they are dealing with." Dabb teases that the biggest threat is an "old-let's call him friend-who we have not seen" for years and will be a huge problem for the guys. He also confirmed that this character will be from the alternate world, and when press about whether Dabb is referring to the Archangel Michael, Dabb said, "I'll plead the fifth on that one."


The cast was also excited about the highly anticipated "Scooby-Doo" crossover episode. Jensen said that he, Jared, and Misha did the voiceover work "back in February." The episode begins with the usual live-action, and then the characters will find themselves thrust into the animated "Scooby Land" for the majority of the episode, including Dean getting the chance to meet Daphne and might "try to put the moves" on her.

Although Dabb confirmed that they were not writing for or planning for the end of the show yet, Jared and Jensen, who get emotional thinking about the inevitable end of the show, certainly have their opinions on how the series should end regarding the Winchesters. Jared thinks that both brothers, or at least Sam, should die, since he believes that now that Sam has accepted "that this is his life" after a long "internal struggle" concerning the hunter's life, Sam would only "stop hunting" if he were to die. Jensen says he goes back and forth on how it should end. Part of him thinks "it should be with the brothers finally dying and not having a way back," but the other part of him wonders how emotional and heartbreaking it would be if one of the brothers was dead and the other "had to carry on without him." Jensen thinks that if that were to happen, perhaps one of the brothers would try to carry on but wouldn't be able to, because "when one brother goes, the other brother is not far behind." Jared shared with Entertainment Weekly that when the show ends, it will feel like losing a friend:

“I feel like I know Jensen, I know Dean, I know Misha, I know Cas, I know myself, I know Sam, and [when the show ends], it’s going to feel like losing a friend. When it’s all said and done, it’s going to be tough. I’m going to lose several friends.”

Warner Bros. and the "Supernatural" team certainly outdid themselves this year, and as a fan I am delighted with all of the content Comic-Con supplied while we wait for the show to return for its 13th season on Thursday, October 12th on The CW. Scroll below for more fun pictures, videos and interviews with the guys and be sure to tune in for the new season!








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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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