The Winchester brothers have summoned, challenged and cheated Death time and again on the long-running CW drama "Supernatural." However, in the Season 10 finale, Dean used Death's own scythe against him and watched the Grim Reaper crumble to dust. The defiant act not only released Dean from the cursed Mark of Cain, but, unfortunately, also freed the Darkness from its eternal prison. In the episode's closing seconds, the smoky Darkness engulfed Sam, Dean and the Impala, leaving their fate unknown.

“Supernatural" producers Jeremy Carver and Andrew Dabb spoke with journalists at Comic-Con International in San Diego about the Darkness' grand design, the repercussions of vanquishing Death, downtime with the Winchesters, and whether the creative team listens to fan feedback.

What makes the Darkness unlike any other threat the Winchesters have faced?

Jeremy Carver: For starters, it becomes fully apparent what the Darkness wants. It's not just a threat for the boys, but a threat to angels and demons as well. In some ways, it's a more global threat. I say that and it sounds big and comic book-y almost, but there's certain incredibly related things about the Darkness that grounds it in a way "Supernatural" does. Once we fully start to understand what the Darkness is all about, everybody is going to realize there is a very relatable story here and a lot of unfinished business for the Darkness side. I don't think the Darkness thinks that the Darkness is a threat at all. Hopefully, sometimes that is the best Big Bad: They think they are the hero of their own story.

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"Supernatural" fans are extremely passionate about the show and must give you a lot of suggestions. In what ways have you taken them into consideration?

Carver: Yeah, absolutely. It's a tricky line. We do our hardest to tell the story that we think is the most dramatically satisfying. Clearly, you are going to do stuff for drama's sake that are going to anger some people or make some people happy. Some people like to see some more of the down moments with the boys, what are they like when they are not actually hunting. We are doing an entire episode in the Impala, that's going to be Episode 4. You know how the boys decide they are going to do their case and you cut to them in suits walking up? Well, what if you stayed in the car another 10 minutes and watched them talk about what regular people talk about? It's a very bonding, very real, grounded look at the brothers. That's something we know the fans wanted, and we love that stuff, too.

Introduce us to the character Amara (played by Emily Swallow) and how she will be causing trouble for the Winchesters?

Andrew Dabb: I would say the character Amara, the Darkness character, for us she's a really interesting character mainly because she's very alien to this world. She has been locked away since the dawn of creation. She has a very interesting point of view with how she approaches everything. There are ways – because the Darkness is such a big thing – to connect a lot of our different characters in terms of the impact on the witches, the impact on Hell and on Heaven and on the guys. We're hoping she will have a big ripple effect for us.

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The boys are going to come back united. It is going to be a seamless transition or will there be conflict?

Dabb: I think in Episode 1, they are coming off the catastrophe of last season. There was a moment where it's like, "OK, we're in this. This bad thing has happened. We have to save these people. We have to get out of here." Right away, they are put together. But, as the bigger questions get raised, Sam and Dean are suddenly on the same page. Everybody wants the same thing, but their approach may be a little different. That's where I think you'll see bumps in the road.

What kind of consequences will Dean face for killing Death?

Dabb: There will definitely be repercussions, which we'll start to explore in Episode 2. Death is a cosmic being. There has always been a Death. Once he goes missing, it creates some issues, particularly among souls, particularly among reapers. It's something we want to pace out over the course of our season, or at least the first half of the season, to really dive into that.

Now that Rowena (Ruth Connell) has gained this ultimate power, what does she want to do with it?

Dabb: Rowena is an interesting character. She's kind of been sidelined for most of her witch career. She was never the top dog. She was always someone who had to scheme and manipulate and survive by the skin of her teeth. Suddenly, she has more power than she's ever had, maybe even more than any witch ever had. It's interesting to see, "OK, now that you've got what you want, do you really want it?"

”Supernatural” returns Wednesday, Oct. 7, on The CW.