Supernatural creator Eric Kripke had plenty of fun Sunday afternoon jesting with Comic-Con fans who were anxious to glean every morsel of info they could about the show's upcoming fifth season. This is, after all, the season in which Lucifer (Lost's Mark Pellegrino) returns to Earth, as the provocative Season 4 ending teased his arrival with Sam and Dean Winchester standing at the entry portal, unprepared.

So with the darkest of all angels about to make his big entrance through the floor, what can fans expect from Season 5? Lots of cool stuff, according to Kripke, writers Sera Gamble and Ben Edlund, and cast members Misha Collins and Jim Beaver—all of whom were present for the Comic-Con Supernatural panel.

After showing a clip from the Season 5 premiere, in which Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) set a house trap for three unscrupulous angels, Kripke talked about portraying Lucifer in innovative ways that haven't been seen before. This involved an approach being dubbed "herbal teas and fluffy pillows," or more accurately, making the character sympathetic—a direct reference to the beginning of Milton's "Paradise Lost". Kripke said: "He was essentially betrayed, so in some ways he can be viewed sympathetically ... if we can make the angels dicks, Lucifer can by sympathetic."

According to Kripke, even thought the apocalypse is nigh, this season is actually more optimistic, because Sam and Dean come back together...with the theme being that family saves the world. And while he admits that it might seem a bit Pollyanna in tone, it serves as the balance to the show's relentlessly dark theme.

Sera Gamble, meanwhile, believes that the apocalypse actually has its funny moments, with Ben Edlund supporting her assertion, joking that in one episode there's a scene that features 22 people in a line-up (akin to a Comic-Con lineup, perhaps?), casually waiting to be hung.

And according to Kripke, the writers had a lot of fun with Castiel (Misha Collins). The angel character was always written as a being who hadn't walked among humans — as a human — for thousands of years, and thus humanity would seem alien to him. But in Season 5, he's back among them regularly again. Collins says that "he's [Castiel] lost a bit of his angel mojo...along with some friends. He has a pretty ambitious mission he's on—he's emotionally cut off from heaven and a bit afraid." So Castiel must learn to function as a human again because he is not an ethereal being anymore.

And, of course, that creates more of the aforementioned funny moments, as the writers play with the 'fish out of water' scenario, i.e. according to Kripke, in one episode, Dean takes Castiel to a whorehouse.

In one of the more provocative reveals, the writers discussed episode four, which sees the story move five years into the future, when the height of the apocalypse is upon us and devastation is everywhere...punctuated by Sara Palin as president (the humor is peppered everywhere, indeed...be it explicit or implicit).

What else can fans expect? Here's a few highlights:

- Jim Beaver said that an interesting scenario has been cooked up for Bobby, though he wouldn't reveal anything.

- Old hunters like Rufus are coming out of retirement. It's 'all hands on deck' because the apocalypse is going down.

- Ellen Harvelle (Samantha Ferris) returns to back up her daughter Jo (Alona Tal).

- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse make an appearance.

- More mythological creatures from the bible and elsewhere are featured.

- You'll see some celebrity ghosts, including a homicidal Abraham Lincoln.

- And last but not least, Jessica Moore (Adrianne Palicki) is returning in episode three as Sam's girlfriend.

If all of this sounds exciting to you, it sounds exciting to us as well. It also sounds like this team of writers have so many good ideas in the recipe book that they could well go beyond five seasons. Might they? Well, according to Kripke, it's definitely possible, but right now he's focused on taking things one season at a time. All of which is code-speak for: "If the ratings are there [and the studio is willing to pay the cast's rising salaries], we'll probably do more seasons."

Take heart, though, he will not stretch the Lucifer plot-line beyond five years, as it was always part of the original five year arc.

So what will they do for an encore after bringing the Devil back to Earth? We'll just all have to watch and see...

Supernatural's fifth season returns on The CW September 10.