News ahoy!
These interviews have been trimmed for Misha content, since there's a lot of them. Check the sources for full articles.
TV Guide interview with Robert Singer
When Castiel and Dean wound up in Purgatory, Cas did his angel disappearing act. Will Misha Collins go missing from Supernatural again?
We're just framing our ideas now, but our intention is to have Cas back a number of times.
Who will be the Big Bad this season?
It's basically and angels-and-demons year. It's not apocalyptic but about who can gain control and keep demons in Hell or angels in Heaven.
Castiel spoilers
"Supernatural": Good news, Castiel fans! Misha Collins will be in a minimum of 8 episodes of "Supernatural" this season. The not-so-good news? Given the flashback-heavy season, Collins can't confirm whether or not Castiel actually makes it out of Purgatory. Thus far, he hasn't shot (or read!) any scenes that aren't flashbacks of Purgatory.
Misha interview at TCAs
"Cas is back!" Collins excitedly told us earlier tonight. "We're seeing him in flashback form first, and I think the Cas that we're seeing is more the Cas we got to know in season four and season five. He's a little bit more worldly, a little bit more weary, a little bit more worn than he was before."
Collins shared that he was excited to get back to the basics of Cas in many ways but also to have him be a more mature version of the character than we have perhaps seen, adding a new layer for the actor who has already played quite a few versions of this guy.
"Frankly, my impression this season is that all of the characters are more mature," Collins added. "It kind of makes sense. This show started now eight years ago, and you look at photos of Jared and Jensen eight years ago, and they look very baby-faced! The actors have matured, and so it makes sense that the characters have matured, too."
Of course, Castiel's maturity may be relative because he's several thousand years old. But Collins pointed out that it is really the past few years of Purgatory and the apocalypse that have aged him.
"These past few years have been hard on him and humanity!" Collins laughed.
With this yet-another-new version of Castiel comes a new dynamic with Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean, Collins teased. Well, maybe just Dean for now, though, as Collins admitted thus far he has only seen scripts where "he's relating to Dean."
"It gets resolved in the first episode back," Collins said of Dean dealing with Castiel leaving him behind in Purgatory.
Jeremy Carver interview
"Purgatory is not directly related to that overall, boys' mythology," Carver admitted. "You're going to see many flashbacks to Purgatory in the first half of the season, and whether or not we see more flashbacks later is still to be determined, but by the first half of the season, you'll have a full understanding of what went down in Purgatory."
Misha interview at TCAs
In short: We'll see Cas pretty frequently, in the first part of the season anyway, and this fall there's more of an emphasis on the angel's relationship with the Winchester brothers, especially Dean. [Mild spoilers follow.]
Cas first shows up in the second episode of Season 8, which is a flashback to Dean and Cas' time in Purgatory, where they ended up in the Season 7 finale. I briefly spoke to Carver at the party, and he said that the writers are currently at work on Episode 9, and that Cas appears regularly in that first batch of episodes (though he didn't put a precise number on Cas' appearances).
Can you talk about the first episode you're in?
Yes, [Episode 2 of the season] is a flashback. We're picking up a year later, and it's a flashback of Dean's memory of Purgatory.
So that was a good time, right?
No, Purgatory really sucks for Cas. He's loathed, hunted and hated by everyone.
And so what version of Cas is this? I've lost track at this point. Is this Cas 9.0?
It's Cas Snow Leopard.
Cas Mountain Lion.
Yeah. Mountain Lion is definitely more accurate. He is definitely back to the land in Purgatory.
So it's back to ass-kicking Cas in Purgatory?
No, not so much that. He's a little rough around the edges in Purgatory. It's hard on him.
Well, he was already in a somewhat delicate state to begin with.
Yes. I think he's been forced to nut up, so to speak. Hey, that's almost a play on words, because he was nuts before. He's a little less crazy, by necessity. In order to survive, he had to knuckle down.
So it sounds as though the season begins with Dean out of Purgatory?
Yes.
And you're in more episodes after the second one of the season?
[Collins asked Carver, who was standing nearby, about this, and Carver said that the show will explore what happened in Purgatory over several episodes at the start of the season, and Collins will be in an unspecified number of them.
Standing in this group was a reporter from another outlet, who asked Collins the following question.]
Do you hate Sera Gamble?
[The first two words of Collins' answer were not meant in a serious way.] Fabulous question. I pretty much have gotten that question, by the way, on camera. What do people expect me to say? I do not hate Sera Gamble at all -- in fact, I love her. But if I did hate her, there's no way in hell I would say yes. It's a pretty loaded question.
OK, that was a sidebar. [And we're back to me asking questions.]
With Jeremy at the helm, have you noticed a difference in the storytelling?
You know, episode to episode, I think "Supernatural" fluctuates a lot. The tone is not always consistent and reliable, and there's no template that every episode follows, so it's too early to say. But I do think that he's doing something different in the episodes that I've seen, and in the broad brush strokes that he's sort of etched out for me of where the season is going. He's definitely doing some new stuff. And as time goes on and the season arc plays out, we'll see how the tone in total is different.
I'll be honest with you, I feel like they went one Cas too far last season. There were so many versions of him that popped up so randomly that it was hard for me to keep the thread of the character in my mind, let alone the thread of his relationships with Sam and Dean. I feel like aspects of the character spun out for me last season, and I wondered if those were ever concerns you had.
On the one hand, I like that they take the risks and do weird shit with the characters -- all of the characters on the show. It's fun to play with that stuff, and it doesn't get boring. But there are definitely times when I feel like the threads -- the character continuity -- haven't always been woven totally thoroughly. And maybe that's my fault as an actor. Sometimes there just isn't quite enough time to totally flesh out and figure out how to make sense of some of these more radical versions of the characters. But I can totally see that point.
And there have also been times in the past when I felt Cas was used as the sort of "fish out of water" comic foil, to the detriment of the character. It was a little dishonest to the character.
He's also been a "get out of jail free" card. "What is the magical thing or power that we need right now? Oh, Cas has it!"
Right. Well, you know, but I think that's a problem with Cas. If Cas is in good form and they need something, they can just be like, "Cas can time-travel us. Cas can smite all these people simultaneously." And it doesn't make for very compelling storytelling, because your two heroes are human beings who are vulnerable and are up against forces much more powerful than them, so if they have this superhero ally who can just, with a snap of his fingers, solve all their problems, it actually makes the story tough to tell.
I don't know if this is true or not, but I think that a lot of the reason Cas has often been found unconscious or crazy or evil or turning into God or missing is because he solves too many problems too easily for Sam and Dean. So it's a writers device for dealing with that, and that totally makes sense. You don't want an incredibly powerful ally. It's kind of not as interesting.
Well, the stuff that is interesting is the relationship stuff, about the characters, and I don't feel like that has gotten enough attention either.
Last season, Cas' relationship arc got virtually none [of the screen time] -- he was an egomanical God figure, then briefly a Leviathan, then he was crazy. So there wasn't much for him to work with there. This season, there's going to be a lot more of the character interplay, I think. So far, that's what it looks like.
You said earlier you had heard about broad strokes for your character this season. Can you talk about that a little bit?
They don't have that many scripts written, so it's a little tough to speculate, but from what I've heard about where they're going and the scripts that I have seen, the Cas that we're going to be seeing is a Cas that is consistent with the old Cas that we've gotten to know over the years. It feels pretty honest to that character, so I'm excited about that.
Cas and Dean. They're a continual source of speculation, fan fiction, pornography…
Yep. I'm just always gratified that I'm in some small way contributing to any kind of pornography. It warms the cockles of my heart. Words chosen carefully.
Is there a particular emphasis on that relationship this season? Or is it just fighting together in Purgatory and desperate circumstances and all that?
The scripts that I've seen so far have been dealing very much with that relationship between Dean and Cas. Whether that's going to be the most significant or a very significant thread throughout the season, I'm not sure, but my speculation is that yes, it will be fairly [important].
I've written many times that I think one of the problems of the show is that it kills off too many recurring characters. I guess my thinking is that drama often consists of complex relationships and people reacting to each other, so if you take that away … well, it's really hard for the guys to bounce off anyone else if everyone they know is dead. That's just one of my hopes for the new season, that there's more of that built up again. Does that make any sense to you?
It does. And it's something you should probably talk to Jeremy about, but my impression is that they're trying to build a little bit more of that kind of a world. I'm going to be back more significantly. Mark Sheppard is going to be back significantly. There are a couple of other characters I think are going to be woven in as well.
The flip side of that is, when you have characters that are well-loved or well-known by the audience that you're not afraid to kill, it raises the stakes a little bit. You're dealing with these life-and-death situations every week, and if you actually aren't sure if someone isn't going to survive, [it's more dramatic]. Some shows, you know the regular cast is always going to be there.
Yeah, but I feel like the brothers are always in so much danger, not just physically but psychologically, and they're always being put through so much pain -- why pile on? I get it, I get that it adds drama to kill off characters, but their parents are dead. Most of the people they know are dead. I mean, is it like, "Oh, yeah, this is the one that'll make them really depressed."
It is true. And to an extent at this point, Sam and Dean are like, "He was a good guy. Anyway, we got to get moving."
Right, it's like, "Um, I have a thing. Have to go. Sorry about that dead person."
"Guys, the car is idling."
Carver interview
At Comic-Con, we talked a little bit about the broad-strokes of the season, but I wondered if you could elaborate on Dean's Purgatory storyline and whether we'll see that mostly in the first half of the season, or whether it'll be a season-long arc?
We explore it in most detail in the first half of the season, but a lot of the arc has to do, in terms of flashbacks, with memory and perception. So it’s always open that we could re-explore it at a later date. We never close the door on it, but it's most heavily explored in the first half of the season.
Does Dean's time in Purgatory tie into the main mythology of the season, or do you have another storyline that's concurrent to Purgatory?
I would say it ties into ... It becomes its own mythology of the season. In other words, it runs concurrently to what would be our more traditional mytharc, but, yeah, it’s something that certainly impacts the brothers’ relationship. I think that’s a fair way to address it, as a concurrent storyline.
While you were on the writing staff back in seasons 4 and 5, you wrote some of the best Castiel episodes of the series, so I know you've got a great grasp of his character. Can you talk a little bit about what we'll see for him this year?
Well, I can talk about it to the extent we spend a lot of time exploring just what happened in Purgatory between Dean and Castiel. I mean, when we last left, they were split. I think we will, through Purgatory, come to understand how they may have found each other down there, how their relationship may have been affected by the events in Purgatory, how each of them may have responded to Purgatory in a very, very different way and then throw in the addition of a rather strange bedfellow that joins them to make it a trio -- that’s the story we’re telling in Purgatory.
Can we assume that Dean and Benny leave Castiel down there when they escape, or will we be seeing him in more than just flashbacks in the first half of the season?
That ... is something we explore. [Laughs.]
The show has often focused on the "profound bond" between Dean and Castiel, while Sam and Cas have had a more strained relationship that gradually seemed to be improving last season. Have those dynamics changed at all, and can you discuss how Castiel might relate to both brothers this year?
Well, the only dynamic we’re seeing here is Dean and Castiel, down in Purgatory, and like I was saying before, that relationship ... You know, Castiel, I think it’s fair to say, ended last season a little bit, "I sing with the bees" or whatever the line was. And I think having been sent down to Purgatory has sobered him up a bit. These two ... one thing that we’re going to see in Purgatory, again, is that it has a different effect on different people. And that effect will not always be apparent but it will have great effect on their relationship. Sorry, that’s a weaving way around it.
Carver interview
IGN: Castiel had a reduced role last year, appearing at the beginning and end of the season. We don’t know why he left or where he went when he and Dean reached purgatory, but how much of a presence do you expect him to have this year?
Carver: One of the things were doing is, I think a lot of shows -- and I could be wrong; I could be speaking completely out of school here -- it feels like a lot of shows, when they send someone to Heaven or Hell, they largely ignore it when they come back. This year, we’ve made the decision to go for it and really explore what happened in Purgatory and sort of introduce this new world and new characters and new relationships. That’s where we’ll be coming in and understanding exactly what happen to Cas, why he flipped out there at the end of the finale, and what the time in Purgatory did to Dean. It’s all going to be explored with great action, drama and melodrama. No one is more of a fan of Dean and Cas than I am.
Misha interview
IGN TV: I’m sure it always a little nerve-racking when things change behind the scenes, but is it also exciting for you having Jeremy return to the series as showrunner, and seeing what he’s going to bring to the table?
Misha Collins: Yeah, it’s funny for a character like mine. The show cannot go on without Sam and Dean, but we have seen that the show had started without me and can go on without me. So, yes, whenever there’s a changing of the guard, I have been nervous, not always without cause. But if funny because every time I think I know what’s going to happen in the show, something different happens. I thought at the end of last season, “Hey, thank God they left me in Purgatory with Dean. I’m definitely going to be significant next season.” Then there was a little back and forth where it wasn’t really clear whether I was going to come back at all -- and the way in which I do come back is not at all what I expected. I’ll be back much more significantly this season than last.
IGN: I was talking to Jeremy earlier, and he’s saying there will certainly be understandable drama between Dean and Castiel this season. Have you been given some insight on how that might play out?
Collins: I have. Although to be perfectly frank with you, I’ve only been given hints. I’m not exactly sure how it does play out. But yeah, that lingering question that was a significant part of the cliffhanger -- where the f**k did Castiel go? -- is answered very directly in the second episode. That won’t be a hanging chad. We’ll know what was going on with that.
IGN: Sam and Dean may be the core of the show, but clearly you have a passionate fanbase of your own among Supernatural viewers. They were none too happy when you were not on the show in the middle of last season. I would imagine it must be very gratifying to see how people have connected to you and this character.
Collins: Yes, it is. It’s funny, for whatever reason, I’m always a little bit surprised by it because I somehow don’t see it that way myself. My vantage point is skewed. And it’s not because I’m humbled, because I’m not. [Laughs] It’s just that I don’t really have another basis of comparison or something like that, so I think, “Oh, maybe this is what it’s like for everybody on the show.” But anyway, I have seen that there has been a big fan reaction to my character, and it’s grown with time. I’m super grateful for that, for a number of reasons. One, it was possibly a contributing factor to me lasting as long as I did on the show. I don’t know whether that was purely creative interest on the writers’ part or if there were other factors. But it’s also been really fun to interact with the fanbase and play with that dynamic and be able to utter the words, “I have fans.” Just waking up in the morning and saying that to yourself really gives you a boost. I don’t really know what I’m saying. I’m just rambling in weird spirals!
IGN: Well, I told you this at Comic-Con, but I happen to live with someone, my wife, who is constantly mentioning that Castiel is her favorite. So I can definitely vouch for it!
Collins: You know, at least empirically, one fan.
IGN: Last season, when you came back at the end, clearly, your mental state was fluctuating. As we go into this year, will you be a little more in line with what we knew Castiel to be previously?
Collins: Definitely more in line. I think that he had some serious screws loose at the end of last season. He just had to button down and get his s**t together, frankly, in order to survive Purgatory. So we’re seeing a version of Castiel that’s definitely reminiscent of Castiel in Season 5, the one we knew before. He’s got a lot more under his belt now. He’s a little bit more weary, a little bit more worldly and a little bit more weathered -- the three “W”s. I’m excited about it. It’s a version of the character that I feel holds great promise.
IGN: The end of Season 5, you had an amazing line involving the phrase “ass-butt.”
Collins: That one’s a keeper.
IGN: Do people quote that to you as much as we’ve quoted it in my office?
Collins: I can’t speak to how often you’ve quoted it around the office, but I have seen more than my fair share of t-shirts with that inscription. So, yes. It’s funny, you never know the things that are going to have staying power. I remember watching the season premiere of Season 4, and I was watching it with the producers of Supernatural. They had this little party, and they invited me. I said, “Oh, cool. I’ll go.” At that point, I thought I was going to be doing a couple of episodes. Sera Gamble came up next to me and said, “Your life is about to change.” I was like, “You’re crazy. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But yeah, this role for whatever reason stuck around. Then some of the little things that this character has done -- his wardrobe, I see people dressing up as Castiel all the time. When I was at Comic-Con, there were three girls congregated all dressed as Castiel. I snuck up in front of them -- they didn’t know it was me -- and took a picture of myself with them like that. Then there’s lines like, “Hey, ass-butt.” There are just little things that for whatever reason stick and become part of it. It’s kind of fun to see what those are. Every once in a while I cringe and hope something that I’m saying doesn’t become a part of that.
IGN: Did you reveal yourself to those three girls?
Collins: They figured it out and then literally started chasing me as I ran away.
IGN: Obviously, Castiel has evolved and gone through his different iterations. But is it nice for you -- without overdoing it at this point - to touch upon those times where he says those things that remind you that he wasn’t one of us for a long time and he doesn’t know all our ways?
Collins: Yeah. I don’t think that’s going to go away. I haven’t seen that many scripts [for Season 8], so I can’t speak to how exactly he’s going to be over the course of the season, but I think sometimes those things get played up a little too much for a little bit too much comic relief. Sometimes I’d read those and think, “Ah, how can I make this seem real? It’s kind of going for a joke.” But I think that a small peppering of that is good. Too much for comic relief is sort of like, “All right, I get it.” But that’s part of him, you know? He’s not a part of this world. But you never know what happens in this show. Castiel could be just sort of fat, sitting in front of the TV at the end of this season. I don’t know.
SUPERNATURAL SEASON 8 OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION
Season Eight begins with Dean’s seemingly impossible escape from Purgatory, though Castiel is nowhere to be found. However, Dean isn’t alone. He’s returned with a mysterious comrade-in-arms whose reason for escape is perhaps more than Dean bargained for. Meanwhile, Sam finds himself reconciling the life he discovered while Dean was gone with Dean’s sudden reappearance. As the boys struggle with their unexpected reunion, they make a shocking discovery that could lead them on a deeply personal mission to settle old scores. If only they could agree - is this a “family business” or isn’t it?
Season 8 bumper
Click to viewSeason 8 promo
S. E. Hinton tweets about set visit
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EW on set pics
After coming on board early in the fourth season, Misha Collins can hardly be considered a newcomer to the Supernatural gang, but stands as the perfect example of guest star-turned-fan-favorite. (Another? The Winchester patriarch in the picture, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who is seemingly gone but not forgotten.) And this season, look for Castiel to first appear in the second episode, when we will learn more about what happened in Purgatory. ''The first one is going to be a real snoozer. I'm not in it,'' Collins joked with EW earlier this summer.
