During the Supernatural panel at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, the show’s creator Eric Kripke was joined by Sera Gamble, Ben Edlund, Misha Collins and Jim Beaver for a Q&A about the show’s upcoming, and probably final, season.
The fourth season ended with a cliffhanger, where Lucifer was set to rise from Hell and initiate the Apocalypse after Sam broke the final seal on his prison by killing Lilith. The most notable absence throughout the battle between Heaven and Hell, however, has been that of God. Will he be appearing in this season? The writers are “approaching it cautiously”, according to producer Gamble. “There is a lot of doubt because a lot of characters are angry at God for not stepping in and doing something about what’s going on.” In roundtable interviews during the day, Kripke also revealed that we shouldn’t expect to see the God character during the first half of the season.
Other tropes of the Apocalypse will also be explored, such as the Four Horsemen, but as with everything in the show these will be modernised, Kripke quipped. “The Four Horsemen are not going to be riding horses but colour-coordinated muscle cars. Why ride a horse when you can be in a Mustang?” As for Lucifer himself, audiences were told that the character would be recurring, but infrequently, as the formidable nature of the enemy would be damaged were he to be defeated in every episode.
As for other bits that fans can expect this season, look out for Dean taking Castiel to a brothel (with unintended – yet expected – bad consequences), and the possibility of celebrity ghosts. Aside from the appearance of God, however, the real news from the panel is that Kripke is now open to more seasons of the show past the five-year mark that he originally intended. These new seasons, were they to happen, would be an entirely separate story, though, and the long-running Lucifer arc will be tied up in the 2009/10 season.
Supernatural returns in September on The CW in the United States. The series stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins and Jim Beaver.
