‘Supernatural??’ Pits The Winchesters Against An Undefeatable Foe

Supernatural has just completed 10 years of stories that featured a monster-of-the-week or various biblical baddies, so Jeremy Carver, executive producer for Supernatural, wanted to bring something new and fresh to the table for season 11. It seemed logical to begin with something that has origins predating everything seen or discussed in previous Supernatural seasons, giving Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) a seemingly impossible challenge to tackle.

Supernatural Brings In A Threat That May Unite Angels And Demons With Man

Supernatural‘s Carver revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that the Winchester brothers won’t be the only ones stumped by the existence of The Darkness. It seems heaven and hell, angels and demons, are equally confounded by The Darkness, after finding out that something that was once regarded as little more than a supernatural fairy tale is actually very real.

“There’s so little information about this thing out there in the universe,” said the Supernatural E.P. “The show starts with a mystery in terms of what this thing is and what it wants. We take our time in building up our understanding of exactly that. It’s going to have a pretty cool payoff.”

Carver also pointed out that the Supernatural story of The Darkness created a problem almost as challenging behind the scenes, as it was for Sam and Dean Winchester, due to the fact that it had already been established that there would be no lore to propel the plot along. Previously, Supernatural‘s protagonists had always discovered some text, scroll, or prophesy to save the day at the very last minute. Jeremy says there will be no such aid in season 11 of Supernatural.

The Supernatural executive producer says that the thrill of this season will be in discovering more about The Darkness by seeking out those rare entities that may have dealt with her in the past, which will necessarily result in a season-long mystery with clues being doled out episode by episode.

The Darkness Will Unite Supernatural‘s Winchester Brothers With One Another And With Old Friends

While season 10 concentrated on personalizing Supernatural and giving the fans a deeper look into the personalities of the characters portrayed by Ackles and Padalecki, while still staying on track with the bigger Mark of Cain storyline, season 11 of Supernatural will focus on the bigger picture.

“While the character relationships are still there this season, with the release of The Darkness, the stakes are going to feel much, much higher, not just for the boys, but for the demons in hell and the angels in heaven,” the Supernatural showrunner said. “It excites us to confront this issue of what you do when you have a big bad that pretty much everyone wants gone but nobody knows how to deal with.”

As Carver commented on The Darkness bringing the Supernatural brothers together, Misha Collins, who plays Castiel, revealed that his character will join in the fight. As Castiel learns of The Darkness and comes to terms with the fact that this entity is a real threat, he joins Sam and Dean to help them discover more about The Darkness, which will hopefully include a way to defeat her.

“I’m really excited to see the boys back on the same page,” Supernatural star Padalecki says. “It seems like they have vacillated so much, they’ve been to the lowest of the lows with each other, and now there’s a united front. That’s always been my favorite part of Supernatural — when the boys team up and we have a united front of Sam and Dean Winchester. When Sam and Dean are fighting, that doesn’t sit right with Jensen and me. They’re brothers, and underneath it all they love each other, and so this season is how it should be.”

Supernatural star Jensen Ackles agreed with Padalecki, stating that their thoughts on the relationship between Sam and Dean Winchester echoes just how fans feel about the brothers working together.

“Teaming up to figure out what The Darkness is, what it wants, and how to defeat it is the boys’ best chance of survival. We’re taking the show back to its roots, and it feels good,” Jensen Ackles told Entertainment Weekly.

The next episode of Supernatural airs on Wednesday, October 14, on the CW network.

[Featured image courtesy of CW/Supernatural]