‘Supernatural’ Carries On for Comic-Con panel and Kansas

supernatural comic con with kansas 2017 images

Comic-Con got a Supernatural style Kansas performance with “Carry on Wayward Son” Sunday morning, and I never would have expected to get a front row seat for this rock concert. As many fans told me afterward:

“This was so worth camping out all night for the front row now!”

It started with the classic video shot of the Winchester Brothers and that theme song we all know and love, but then we could tell something was a little…different. Once it sunk in we were getting a true live show, everyone (including me, in all honesty), went freaking wild!

kansas performing at supernatural comic con panel

For those not in the know, “Supernatural” played “Carry On My Wayward Son” in the finale of it’s first season, and the song has reappeared in every season finale following. It’s the “Supernatural” anthem.

Check out the very surprise performance just below:

The band Kansas surprised the thousands of fans gathered in Hall H with a performance of the show’s unofficial theme song, “Carry on Wayward Son.” The tune was first used back on the season one finale during a montage and has been used for every season finale since then. It has been fully embraced by the Supernatura fanbase as the song of the series, and was even reprised during the show’s 200th episode with a slowed-down version as a love letter to the fans.

Series stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki wanted to watch the performance and tried on masks to hide their identity so they could rock out in the crowd incognito, but nothing could sufficiently hide them, so they had to watch from the back corner of the giant venue. Only one dancing fan noticed them and freaked out after asking them to take a photo of her, not realizing at first who she was asking. The fan actually noticed Misha.

After the performance series actors Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and executive producers Robert Singer and Andrew Dabb took the stage for their traditional panel.

During the panel, when asked about Castiel’s (Misha Collins) death in the season 12 finale, executive producer Bob Singer said, “You have to go where the story takes you. Perhaps Castiel’s time had come. Frankly, Misha had become a bit of a prima donna, wanted to be No. 1 on the call sheet…”

Of course, that’s when Collins came onstage, crashing the panel and surprising the audience with a much smaller chair than the rest of his castmates. Ackles then jokingly asked him how it felt to not be on the show anymore. But he promised fans, “I’m not going away.” And Singer confirmed that Castiel will be back, but wouldn’t elaborate on how.

The series also announced casting for the upcoming potential new spinoff series Wayward Sisters. Set in the world of Supernatural, the pilot will air as an episode this season centered on Sheriff Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) and a group of troubled young women — all orphaned by supernatural tragedy — as they emerge as a formidable force against the supernatural, under Mills’ training and protection.

Lending Jody a hand will be series fan-favorite Sheriff Donna Hanscum (Briana Buckmaster), a relative novice to the hunter’s life, but a close friend whom Jody can confide in. The group of young girls includes Claire Novak (Kathryn Newton), Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen) and new character Patience Turner (Clark Backo of Designated Survivor), a high school overachiever whose life is turned upside down when she discovers she’s a powerful psychic, a gift she inherited from her estranged grandmother, season one’s Missouri Moseley (Loretta Devine). Hunted by dark forces for her power, Patience finds refuge with Jody and her wayward family. And Missouri Moseley will be back in an episode this season as well.

Check out the season 12 highlight reel debuted during the panel, below.

What we learned about Supernatural Season 13 at the Comic-Con panel:

First up, Collins addressed Castiel’s “death,” to which he simply promised fans, “I’m not going away.”

Moving to the question of Jack, Lucifer’s Nephilim, Ackles talked about how the Winchesters will react to this new being. As he put it, Sam and Dean will handle things “differently … In Dean’s mind, [Jack] just simply has to go.” But because Sam is ever the optimist, he won’t necessarily agree with Dean’s more practical approach. As Padalecki said, “Jack is half-Lucifer but he’s also half-Kelly Cline.” So expect Sam to disagree with Dean’s “shoot first, ask questions later” attitude.

But Jack isn’t the only thing Sam and Dean are going to butt heads about. When it comes to Mary, Singer said, “Dean thinks she’s gone.” And because of that, Dean is trying to accept that and move on, whereas Sam is “holding onto the fact that she could still be alive. That’s a problem between the guys.” Singer added, “Spoiler alert: Mom is not dead.”

And although she’s not dead, Mary is currently in a post-apocalyptic world with Lucifer, and seeing as how Bobby — or at least a version of him — appeared in that world in the season 12 finale, Dabb said there’s hope to see more characters return… both in the real world and in the new one. “Some people who have been long dead on our show are less dead in [the] apocalyptic world,” Dabb said, adding that they will be “much different characters.”

For the final question, a fan asked which character would make a good spin-off, to which Dabb pointed to the potential new Wayward Sisters show and said, “We feel they would make an extremely exciting addition to the Supernaturaluniverse.” A backdoor pilot for the series, featuring fan-favorites Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster, is expected to air during season 13. Kathryn Newton, Katherine Ramdeen, and Clark Backo will also appear.

Supernatural season 13 premieres Thursday, Oct 12 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.