Supernatural, on Sunday July 15th, helped close out Comic-Con 2012 in grand style filing Hall H with over 6,000 enthusiastic fans for a fun filled panel. In other words the actors and writing staff were extremely funny, but didn’t really give any spoilers away for season eight.

Afterwards the Supernatural lineup hit the press room. No one got any real secrets out of them, but they did give a few hints as to what’s going to happen come October.

First up: Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins. Actually this is just an excuse to show off some pretty good photos of Team Free Will.

Jared Padalecki and Ben Edlund will be next.

If you want more of the press room interviews or even more photos let us know. We’ll be glad to oblige.

Please link. Don’t copy. Enjoy.

JENSEN ACKLES – SUPERNATURAL PRESS ROOM – COMIC CON 2012

PCZ: Thank you for being here. We were a little worried you wouldn’t make it down here.

So am I actually. I might not be down here completely. So go easy. We filmed until 4:30 AM yesterday. And I caught the 8 AM flight, so there was no sleep. You can razz Ben and Jeremy when they get here. Tell them not to write Ext. Night during the summer time when there are only six hours of night in Vancouver and the sun doesn’t go down until about 10:45 and then comes up at 4 AM. So when they shoot exterior night you know you’re going to be in for a long night. So that’s where I was. So I haven’t had any sleep.

PCZ: Can you tell us a little about the episode you’re directing?

Sure. It’s a bit of a one-off. There’s a little bit of flash-back scene towards the end of the episode which I’m sure some of these other people have told you will become more and more as the season unfolds. It’s a bit of an onion. You kind of peel back what happened over the past year while Dean was in Purgatory. What was happening to him and also what was happening to Sam on top will be revealed through flashbacks as the season progresses. We do start off in present time which explains how Dean gets out of Purgatory, but what happened to him while he was there gets explained later.

That being said my episode is kind of a one-off. Sam’s character is very driven and wants to find Kevin after the end of last season. And of course Dean, after his time in Purgatory, he’s come back with a bit of clarity. He really kind of understands his purpose a little bit more. [He] understands his life is not about smelling the roses it’s about doing what he does best and that is…cramped up in that car, driving down the road next to his brother, fighting the things that people don’t know about. So with that being said, I thinking there’s a driving force behind Dean that is opposite, not opposite, but that differs from the driving force that is behind Sam, and that is to find an answer for the bigger picture. So we’ll see how that works out. In this particular one, Dean talks Sam into going with him to go help some people in need and they do.

MISHA COLLINS – SUPERNATURAL PRESS ROOM – COMIC CON 2012

PCZ: Where did Castiel go when he left Dean in Purgatory?

I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you he left…. I actually do know and I’m not going to tell you where he went, but I will tell you that that is a question that is resolved fairly early on in the season. We get to see, “Oh. that’s what he was doing.” He may have his own agenda and he may be trying to save his own ass or he may be doing something to protect Dean. And I’m not going to tell you which one it is.

The way that the purgatory flashback storyline is being presented is fragmented. So even I don’t have a clear picture how it all comes together yet. So far this season they’re keeping me just as in the dark as always. None of us know. None of the actors know what’s going on. I think we’ve all given up on really trying to find out. It’s like the NSA at Supernatural. It’s not that they’re trying to prevent leaks from coming out. I think that it’s a constantly evolving story and they’re not really positive where things are going. They just don’t talk about it until the script is almost done. And that’s just the culture of how the show works, that’s how it’s always been. So we don’t fight it anymore. We don’t ask questions, because they just roll their eyes at us if we do.

PCZ: But when will we see Castiel again?

Misha didn’t really answer the question, but he did surreptitiously hold up two fingers. So we suspect he will be in episode two. Or he was just flashing us the peace sign?

We’ll probably have to wait until October to find out.