Ben Edlund Interview – Comic Con 2010 Press Room
Ben Edlund was the first to talk to us and we ended up having a nice seven minute conversation. As has been in the past with Mr. Edlund, he doesn’t always give straight forward answers, but they’re interesting! Oh yes, he gives away a few spoilers too. So…
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!
Last Season was supposed to be the end of at least what Eric’s plan was, now that you’ve got another season from the network, where do you take that? Especially since you were going so heavy with angels and stuff.
Yeah, and like the end of the world and stuff. Yes, where do you take it? I’m asking you (laughs). No, we’ve done a very good job on figuring out a place to go, which we never went before. Which is the notion if you look at the history of Supernatural and all of the animals, creatures and monsters that we’ve kind of identified in our vesturary, the general species group of monster, meaning something basically crypto-zoological, is an area that we only brushed on in mythological terms. Meaning that like, so we’ve done angels and demons and we’ve wired them into this large world system. (They’ve) got a pre-involved cosmology with that but all the while when they weren’t hunting those guys they were putting these ghosts to rest. They would occasionally find these monsters. We never tied these underlying pieces into its own underlying mythos. Now we’re turning our eye to this mysterious alien, the aliens among us, who are like the minotaur. Or we’ve already had them, wraiths, or “The Kids Are Alright” you have the changeling. That was our version of a fairy story that turned into a monster, crypto-zoological, poison, all this stuff. That’s the world we’re gonna start to look at. And I think that’s actually kind of interesting. If we can get out of the apocalypse and still have material to deal with (laughs). I think that’s pretty amazing. That’s the corner of the universe we’re shining our light in and it’s a fertile place.
(My question) Where is the brotherly relationship going?
They’ve had such a long relationship. A large part of that is there’s a lot of role reversal, like deep role reversal, that takes place in this new season. Dean, you know, has a family. We know that, right? (laughs with the person sitting next to him). Eric’s hair just went (mocks it standing on end). Okay, so Dean’s a family man. Dean is suddenly the guy with a lot of external obligations, essentially angst. He’s got the world on his shoulders in a certain way that we always had Sam kind of running this deep empathy with this external world. Dean has a child and a family, he is that guy in many ways. He’s still himself but this other role, he’s moved on in life. Sam returns as a disenfranchised,” one of our refugees from death.” He’s almost in Dean’s place now, his attendants that are tying him down are less. (laughs). That’s a terrible answer.
Role reversal is a part of it and their relationship will go as it goes. They have what I would call a love/hate relationship based on some very troubled history.
Are you done with the angels are is there still more to talk about?
We’re no more done with angels than we’re done with ghosts or with demons in what we’re doing is slowly peopling a populous world with all these supernatural creatures. They will came back. Cas is still their friend, still part of their lives basically. And it turns out to be very troubling to have an angel part of your life cause they have lots of problems that you don’t want to deal with. So that’s part of how he keeps coming back. There’s trouble in Heaven, as always.
I heard rumors that Sam is returning as a villain. Is he going to be more morally ambiguous than in the past?
When he comes back, one of the things he’s trying to figure out is exactly what his experience away was and who he is. Yes, he will be unsettling from time to time. There is a mystery at the heart of why. For the rest of us, the mystery is “I just didn’t see that guy for a year and he had some weird shit happen to him.” Here we’re making it externalize more dramatics. There will be a question about what Sam is.
When he gets back is he a ghost?
When you see him? He is flesh and blood. That’s my understanding. It’s news to me if he’s a ghost. I would love that by the way. (laughs). And I would say they should keep it from me as long as possible.
(My question) There will be a time jump?
It will be one year. Which will be good because we need time for people, you know, Dean has a whole life that he’s started to invest in.
Any other guest stars?
You will be told about them. Will I tell you about them, I’m not sure, let me think…
Is Mark Sheppard going to have a bigger part?
Yes, Mark Sheppard in that he holds the keys to Bobby’s car so to speak. He’s got some involvement there. In essence, he’s running the show on the bad side. He’s going to be one of the big players now because there’s been a collapse in the hierarchy of demon kind. So in essence he’s going to be a power player and he still has all kinds of twisted affection for the boys. So he’ll be making trouble.
I’m so happy that Crowley will be back. He’s one of my favorite characters.
Yes, Crowley. There is still some unfinished business regarding Bobby’s soul, so I’m happy he’s gonna be back.
“Crypto-zoological?” I think I’m in love with Ben Edlund just for using that word in a sentence. At a press conference no less.
Monsters, ghosts, demons, angels and Crowley. Except for them warping the boys, this is looking like a good year!
Oh, Ben. He’s such a trip! I’m very glad he’s still with the show. Very glad to hear that Crowley will be recurring as well.
can i marry ben edlund … no seriously.
ok actually seriously i’m so jealous i would love to sit down and talk with that man for a while, he’s just so interesting.
Season 6 sounds very cool. And the brothers, their individual lives and collective lives – the statement Edlund makes, “They have what I would call a love/hate relationship based on some very troubled history” has me very intrigued. What is the “troubled history”. Sam’s time in hell will definitely color his actions, as Dean’s did in Season 4. Although I felt they didn’t explore that enough with Dean, so I hope they explore Sam’s experience more as well as touching more on Dean’s experience in Hell. Exciting that Crowley will have a bigger part. I wonder if Meg will be coming back? Will she make a power play in all this? Man, so many possibilities. Very exciting.