Hometown Con! Supernatural Finally Comes to Philly 2025!

I have been waiting for a Supernatural con in my hometown for a very long time – finally Creation brought their The Road So Far tour to Philly in October. Yay!!!

It seemed extra special because we had just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the show’s premiere way back in 2005.

Philly gave Supernatural a warm welcome, the Philadelphia Zoo even posting an invitation to fans to come do a meet and greet with their very own Sam and Dean (hedgehog version).

Look how adorable they are – almost as cute as the real thing!

Of course they’ve got their own Impala!

The con being local also meant I could set out on a leisurely half hour drive into the city each morning…. Yeah, no, that didn’t happen. The traffic was so insane that it took me three times that, and was nervewracking too. However, on Thursday I found a great spot in the hotel garage, so all was well.

I got set up in the vendor room with a little help from my friends and settled in to welcome everyone to Philly!

It turned out to be a great con, though my driving woes weren’t any less than when I’m going a long distance somehow. Friday’s drive didn’t go any better than Thursday’s, and when I got to the hotel garage there was not a single spot in the entire structure! I drove around, increasingly upset because frankly driving is just not my favorite thing… like at all… and was finally told by a parking attendant that there was one “over there a few rows”. It turned out to be a tiny sliver of pavement between a giant truck and a cement pillar, with a trash can chained to the pillar to make it extra challenging. After approximately 30 attempts, I squeezed my Honda in. Never mind I could barely get out and the trash can….well, it had a few dents. Sorry, trash can.

Saturday’s drive was better, but the parking was even worse. When I got there, the ‘FULL’ sign was already up. I was already late, and driving is not really one of my better skills, as I’ve mentioned, and my knee is dislocated, so the thought of driving around the city looking for another lot and then limping to the hotel was really not a pleasant one. I parked my car in front of the hotel and got out to ask if I could do valet parking and was told THAT was full too! WTF? I think a few tears might have rolled down my face at that point and the (very nice) man took pity on me when he saw my knee brace.

“I’ll find a place for you, ma’am,” he kindly assured me. “Just leave it there.”

I wasn’t able to see many panels this time since I was coming and going, but I caught some of the ladies’ panel, which I always try to do. This time we got Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster, Ruth Connell, Samantha Smith, Alaina Huffman and Julie McNiven!

Ruth Connell talked about working with Alaina Huffman and passing on the importance of working WITH other women and supporting each other.

Alaina: I get to play and be supportive with people I love, I’m not competing with other women. That’s my circle.

Briana: I worked very hard to make everyone feel included.

Ruth and Briana and Kim all wrote insightful chapters in Family Don’t End With Blood, all about their journey to Supernatural and what they’ve learned from the fandom. Julie wrote a chapter in There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, taking us behind the scenes of filming Supernatural and what it was like working with Jensen Ackles in that backseat in the Impala scene. (Spoiler alert, he was a gentleman).

They all talked about how powerful it is to meet fans in person, like they’re able to do at cons.

Ruth: Supernatural and this fandom are the gift of my life.

Julie talked about her young son, who at the holidays opens every present and exclaims “for me??” Awww.

Ruth told a story about little Margaret repeatedly calling for “Daddy” and when that didn’t work, calling: “Rob!!”

Awwwwww

Saturday was also Misha Collins day, as always.

He kicked off his panel stressing about trying to use up all the Asian pears from his pear tree and taking suggestions.

A fan asked, who slays the most?

Misha: Who slays the most? I hate to say it, but Jensen.

When Jensen had to learn tap dancing in like no time at all, Misha told him “you’re screwed, that will take forever.”

Spoiler alert: It did not.

Who would Misha put on mute first?

Misha: Richard Speight. In fact, I have…

Lol

He has a text thread with Jared and Jensen because of course they do.

Misha: If anyone ever opened up me and Jared and Jensen’s text thread, we’d all be cancelled.

Why do I not doubt this at all??

Misha is a great story teller. He told an amusing and touching story about his Dad and him going to Burning Man, Misha imbibing quite a bit, and his dad singing to him.

It was oddly endearing.

A fan asked what he’s up to right now, and Misha said he’s writing a dystopian novel called The Bunker.

Hmmm. That’s an oddly Supernatural-centric title. I’m intrigued!

Someone asked if Misha played Castiel as in love with Dean, and Misha talked about when Bob Berens proposed the final arc for Cas.

Misha: I was like OMG I would love that, let’s do it and let’s figure out how to make that happen. And at the time both he and I didn’t know if the network or the studio or the other producers were going to say okay. It was a little bit of a Hail Mary but we’re gonna try to make it happen. So from the end of Season 14, that’s how I was playing it, but I was also playing it like Castiel still has to discover this, Cas had to still come out of denial or whatever.

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Misha: Cas would send a little kiss emoji to Dean. In real life, we all reply to each other with gifs of ourselves.

Because of course they do.

Misha said that when he was cast, it was supposed to be for three episodes.

Misha: So I didn’t even bother to watch the show beforehand.

Misha also told the story of watching the episode in which Castiel is introduced in a room full of cast and crew, and having Sera Gamble tell him that his life was about to change. At the time, he was skeptical.

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He writes all about that experience in his chapter in our book Fan Phenomena Supernatural – links for more info on that book on the home page here or on Amazon.

A young fan came onstage to ask a question and show off her Cas tee shirt.

Misha: I have to find that shirt for my kids…

On a more serious note, someone asked Misha how to not become overwhelmed with everything happening in the country and the world right now.

Misha: Do something.

That was a helpful reminder – it does help me feel less helpless and hopeless every time I get out there and actually DO something.

Misha also talked about something we’re all eagerly awaiting – him and Jared and Jensen all being on Season 5 of ‘The Boys’!

Misha: We released a little video saying that we were going to appear together on ‘The Boys’ and I think it got like 100 million views. But, we’re actually not the only surprise guests… how about that? I’m just waiting for my phone to buzz with a text from Warner Bros legal. Oh, it’s not WB, it’s Amazon.. they’re too busy…

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Let’s hope so!

He also gave us something to hope for in a gag reel.

Misha: Jared, Jensen and I are in an episode together. We’re in scenes together. At one point, the director Phil Sgriccia, who was our producer director on Supernatural, he said okay guys, we’re good? Okay we’re gonna do another take, I want you to do it again but do it as Sam, Dean and Cas. So we clicked right back into our old roles which is not really a reveal because it is not going to be on the show.

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Please, Uncle Phil!!

Richard, Misha and local artist Tyler Hays went out to dinner last night – I forgot to ask where, but hopefully they were impressed with Philly food!

There was also a Jake Abel panel on Saturday. A fan asked what moment stands out for him from his time on Supernatural.

Jake said it was when he was invited to sit on top of one of their trailers by Jared and Jensen, watching the sunset and drinking beers after filming. I love that we’ve heard stories from so many Supernatural guest stars about how special their time was on that set, and how much Jared and Jensen set the tone for all of them to make it special.

Yesterday, he said, he was hanging out with one of his best friends – in West Chester! (That’s where my university is located, so yay West Chester!)

What impact would Adam have on Michael?

Jake: I think Adam would’ve lightened Michael up. Burgers and guy time!

He said again that if Adam had lived, he would’ve become a kickass hunter – maybe better than the boys!

(I am still not convinced, sorry Jake…)

Saturday night I stayed in the city for dinner since I wasn’t missing the Saturday Night Special. My friend Rita was staying at her mom’s high rise condo in the city, so I took an Uber over to have a home cooked meal. Her mom, it turns out, lives in an absolutely amazing condo with a deck that overlooks the entire city.  We sat having dinner watching the sun set over Billy Penn and the city. Way to make my city look good! (Also, delicious dinner, thanks Rita!)

And then it was time for the Saturday Night Special with Louden Swain!

We got some Billy Moran solo album…

And some soulful Gil McKinney.

(With an awesome KPop Demon Hunters shirt…. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd now that song is stuck in my head again…)

We also got some Richard Speight, Jr. from his Dick Jr. and the Volunteers album…

And some Rockstar Kim Rhodes…

We don’t always get to have Julie McNiven at cons, so I’m always momentarily surprised when she too goes into Rockstar mode!

Dayum!

Great show as always!

Sunday’s drive was the best yet but once again, no parking in the lot and no valet. I rolled down my window and the guy started to tell me that, then suddenly stopped.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said, and motioned for me to get out of the car.

“I’ll find a place for you again,” he assured me.

I think I might have said “bless you”.  You were a lifesaver, sir!

Sunday starts, as always, with the J2 Gold panel.

It’s always so good to see them, and I never cease to have a moment of “OMG they look so good today” at the first panel. You would think that I’d just expect it by now, but it always takes my breath away.

Also I was beginning to think I’d never see Jensen’s entire face again and I am still SO happy about it! (Yes, he looks great no matter what, but this is just…)

Anyway.

J2!

Jensen: Who’s a Cowboys fan??

Audience: ….

Jared said he did the Rocky steps that morning, and someone was playing Eye of the Tiger there – so of course he, like all of us, instead thought of Supernatural and Jensen’s epic rendition.

What’s Jared looking forward to when filming the new movie ‘The Bodyguard’?

Jared: Showing my butt? But Jensen beat me to it… He beat me to it, but I’m like hey I’ve got a nice ass…

Jensen (deadpan): Something the AUDIENCE would be looking forward to…

Marie in the audience: Maybe an acting muscle that you haven’t flexed in a while…

Jensen: Careful…

Jared: My glutes… kidding, no butt, no butt…

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Jared has said that he’s nervous about it, and Jensen jumped in both to do us a favor to find out more about the project, and put Jared at ease as only he can – he interviewed Jared about The Bodyguard.

Jared: As of now, it’s a movie that’s a romcom.

Jensen: Because Walker, Winchester, leaned more on the dramatic aspect of things, so is this more of a charming comedic Jared?

Jared: This is gonna be charming.

Jensen (with his hand over his heart): I’m looking forward to that! I just wanna see how Jared charms somebody.

Jared: I’m just watching Jensen Ackles videos and like, this is how you do it.

Jensen (cracks up): Don’t do that! Soldier Boy, so charming…

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I’m with you, Jensen – So looking forward to that version of a Jared character!

Also so looking forward to seeing a younger Soldier Boy in ‘Vought Rising’, which Jensen is filming now in Toronto.

Jensen: It’s a slightly different version of him…

Me: ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

I don’t know what the question was, but Jared would also like to play a Mandalorian.

Also Jared: I’m Pikachu.

Jensen: Of course you are.

Jensen said that he’d just seen the Northern Lights for the first time – me too, Jensen!

They also happily re-enacted some fight scenes stunt work. They are still so good at it!

Jensen: It was a really cool blend of Jared and I working with someone who knew how to do it in real life and shaping that into something that looked like that on camera. I have to say though, next time Jared and I get into a bar fight, we’re gonna miss by six inches. We’re so trained to not actually make contact!

Jared: We’ve spent hundreds of hours like, the camera’s over there, we’d be [in an actual fight] like buddy, just back down, let’s chill out, then he’s like no  and… (Jared mimes hitting Jensen in stunt style, missing by six inches as Jensen acts like he’s been punched).  The guy’s gonna be like, what’s happening?

I can imagine that would be confusing!

Jared: There’s a comedian named Rodney Harrington, he’s a Texan, and he says if a fight breaks out he just pulls his pants down because no one wants to fight the naked guy… so I’ll have to be like, shit, all right (mimes taking off pants) – I’m a black belt in that move!

Jensen: If you look for it, you can see that the stuff you see on the screen isn’t really applicable to real life. Especially on ‘The Boys’ it’s all superhero giant punches, there’s no real style.

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Someone asked them about getting more tattoos, and they said they’ve talked about getting a Men of Letters tattoo.

I’m always happy when Jared and Jensen reminisce about their time on Supernatural, because I will miss those days forever. They talked about birthdays on the Supernatural set, as sentimental as many of us are about the show.

Jensen: One of our wardrobe ladies, Kelly, would make us a Harvey Wallbanger cake. It was soaked in booze, and I mean, we had to eat it!

Jared (shrugging): It was dipped…

Jensen: And it was usually during a work day, and it was delicious.

Jared: Do you remember…

Jensen: Probably not…

Jared: There’s a scene where Dean and Sam are sitting on the front of the Impala, and we’re eating In and Out burgers or something and I have a drink on my knee…

Jensen: Yes! Yes…

I love when they start cracking up remembering something before the other even has a chance to say it, still so full of joy when they think about that time of their lives.

Jared: So that was on his birthday, we were filming it on his birthday, and the drink fell off and I was like, I can’t… (laughing)

Jensen: So like there was a perfectly good hood that he could’ve set the drink on, but instead he puts it on his knee and I’m just over there looking at him like, that’s not gonna last… sure enough!

They are both so fond when they’re remembering times on the show, even seemingly inconsequential little moments like this one – it brought big smiles to both their faces.

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All too soon, the gold panel ended.

Fans: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Jared and Jensen: We’ll be back!

Sunday afternoon was extra fun because I got to do something unusual with a friend. I don’t do many photo ops, but this con I joined my friend Kathy for a special idea she’d had – we both have PhD’s and are professors when we’re not at a fan convention, which means we have those intense (ahem) regalia to wear to graduations.  Kathy suggested we do a photo op with Jared and Jensen all regalia’d up.

We had our caps and we also had mortarboards for them, because after all, we ALL have PhD’s – in Supernatural!

The boys laughed so hard and so did we – an extra fun moment for my home con!

And then Jared and Jensen were indeed back, for the main panel that afternoon. They leapt onstage along with Rob, as is their tradition.

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Jensen, once again: How about those Cowboys??

Fan: Go Birds!!

Jared (holding back a faux raging Jensen): They’re just birds, Jensen!

Boys.

Jared had his own emotional moments though. A fan came up to the mic and introduced herself.

Fan: My name is Gen.

Jared:

Jared and Jensen were silly and full of laughter for most of the panel and it was so happy making. And the boys were in have-each-other’s-back mode throughout, channeling their inner Sam and Dean perhaps.

There was no Stephen Norton onstage to give Jared a rimshot (that he’s constantly striving for and usually not getting, since it’s now a bit between all of them), so this time Jensen made sure to jump into the drum set and give him one when it was well deserved.

Jared realizes what he’s doing, as Jensen smiles.

Success!!!

They were both SO happy about it.

Jensen told the story of that time he went into an electronics shop to buy a charger only to find the shop clerk putting together a portrait of him in Skittles for a GISH challenge. Jensen:

I never get tired of hearing him tell that story (or any story actually – he’s a great storyteller!)

What would their wives choose for their entrance songs?

Jared: Rock Me Like A Hurricane

(Gives himself a rim shot)

Jared: No, I think my wife would probably wish that my anthem was Another One Bites the Dust, but – oh this became a depressing story so I’m sticking with my (first) answer.

Jensen (laughing): What would she pick for my anthem? Oh my gosh…

Audience: Oops I did it again…

Jensen: Oops I did it again?!

Fan in audience: I’m Too Sexy…

Jensen: No, no…

Jared jumped in, as they always do when the other is hesitating answering a question.

Jared: I’m Too Sexy? For sure, that’s what I’d pick for him. Just own it, Jensen.

Jensen: It would probably be, “I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo, what the hell am I doin’ here?” (sings Radiohead classic)

Jared: Radiohead, can’t go wrong.

I love the way they always have each other’s back. As soon as Jensen was hesitating trying to figure out what to answer, Jared leapt in with a joke and an answer that he could just take if he didn’t want to say anything else.

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They were asked about any haunted experiences they’ve had.

Jared and Jensen to any ghosts: not today!

Fan question: What would Dean say to a cyber truck?

Jensen: You’re driving a refrigerator…

They said they’d both love to have another entire reel of Supernatural bloopers – us too, guys!!

Jensen: It would be good!

Jared: I’d watch it.

Jensen: I’d watch it, there would be so much – we would have enough for an entire blooper reel within the first two weeks of filming a season. That’s how many shenanigans were happening on that set. Ones that didn’t make it? It’s hard to remember because it was literally constant, all the time.

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Maybe someday!

They then fondly recalled some of their favorite blooper moments, including the Misha blooper with the paper airplane lol.

I probably was the most emotional when they talked about missing the people and the sense of purpose that they had with Supernatural.

Jensen: We miss the people we used to work with. We were just in Vancouver last weekend doing one of these and we got to see a lot of those faces that we hadn’t seen in quite a while and it brings back those memories. We spent a lot of time together and they really truly became family to us. We still talk to them but getting to see them is really great. Because we used to see them every day and we don’t get to do that. And it’s like there’s no playbook on what to do when 15 years of your life with these people ends and how to navigate that, and it’s been weird. I miss the people that we got to make that show with a lot.

Jared: Same. We did get to see some last weekend. That and for me, there was such a deep purpose. Every day I woke up and had a drive and a motivation to do the best I could as Sam Winchester and for Supernatural, and for the SPN Family.

Me: My heart….

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They occasionally got sentimental about real life too. Jared told a story about his son buying flowers for a girlfriend and for a second, Jensen thought he meant Shep and they had a whole off mic conversation with Jensen going WHA?  (It was Tom)

Everyone and Jensen: Awwwww

Jared was so proud his son asked him to take him to buy them.

Jensen gave a tiny bit of insight into the upcoming season of The Boys.

Jensen: I walk into the scene as Soldier Boy and I turned the corner and I go OhMyGod.

Jensen: That wasn’t my line and I was supposed to stay there. But I hadn’t seen what was going on, we blocked it out and rehearsed it, and then things changed when the cameras were rolling and I hadn’t seen it and I walked in and was like, dear God… And I just walked back out and they were like ummm, cut? I was like I’m sorry, I wasn’t prepared for that. And I don’t think anybody else will be either.

Jared: I can’t wait!

Jensen: Enjoy!

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Jared: I think you’ll be happy there were no limitations on The Boys…

Me: Oh I’m certain we will be…

Jensen also told the story of having to model as a young teenager wearing a pair of pants that were too small, so they had to cut them up the back.

Jensen: It was during school. And classes get let out and there are hundreds of college kids walking around campus while I have everything just open air in the back.

Jared: (fans self)

More seriously, Jensen said that in spite of his embarrassment, he learned something important.

Jensen: As a 14 year old I was just mortified, but I had to go someplace mentally in order to stand there and get those pictures and look like I was having fun while feeling completely vulnerable and exposed and embarrassed. And I learned that I can do that and do what I need to do and stay focused and get myself into a mindset to block that out. That’s helped me for the rest of my life.

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All too soon it was time for the last question. Jared was a gentleman and gave the fan his overshirt so she could sit on a high chair in a short skirt.

We are such a lucky fandom.

Jared joined Jensen and Rob for a little of the last question song, which was also lucky – and a rarity!

I didn’t get any good photos, but I hope someone did…

And then it was time for them to thank each other and us – and say goodbye.

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Extra special to be able to drive home and sleep in my own bed post con!

Big thanks to Amy and Betty for helping me out with books and at the vendor table along with many other friends, and thank you to everyone who came by to pick up a book or tell me what one of the books has meant to you, or just to say hi!

You can find out more about all our books on Supernatural and why the show and the fandom are so special, including some with chapters written by Jared, Jensen, Misha and the other Supernatural actors, at the Amazon links on the home page here. They make great holiday gifts for the Supernatural fan in your life (or to treat yourself to some feel-good books that celebrate the Show and the fandom!)

Full info on Family Don’t End With Blood and There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done at:

Happy holidays,

Lynn