Series creator Eric Kripke throws back the curtain on the upcoming sixth season.

Back in 2005, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles debuted in “Supernatural” as Sam and Dean Winchester, a pair of brothers dedicated to hunting down demons, ghosts and other assorted paranormal threats. “Supernatural” was originally envisioned by series creator Eric Kripke as a five season storyline, which concluded last spring with the defeat of Lucifer.

As the sixth season gears up for launch in the fall, Kripke has indicated that the series will move beyond the angel and demon stories that have dominated the two previous seasons.

“The great undiscovered country of ‘Supernatural’ is kind of right in front of our face: creatures and monsters,” Kripke told Entertainment Weekly. “We have had so many creature episodes but we haven’t actually explained where they came from — [similar] to the way we have explored angels and demons. How do they feel about the situations they are in? Are they from here? Where did the first ones come from? How did werewolves and vampires and shape-shifters all begin anyway? I thought that was a really smart notion on [the producer's] part, just exploring the history of that, because that was something that we never investigated on the show.”

“One of the first things Sera [Gamble] and Bob [Singer] talked to me about was that the angel thing is rightfully exhausted,” continued Kripke. “Not to say that angels and demons won’t be a part of the story line, because they will. Castiel will be there. Crowley will be there. The beloved characters will [still] be threading into the story.”

Kripke also stated that Mitch Pileggi will continue to play a vital part as Sam and Dean’s monster hunting grandfather.

“He’s representative of the other side of this exploration, which is that Sam and Dean have a family of hunters that they never knew they had,” explained Kripke. “Their grandfather is the head of that family. Remember, it’s not the Winchesters who are famous hunters, it’s the Campbells. And we are saying that the Campbells are part of a timeline of hunters that have been there since the country’s origins. As Sera put it, they were hacking heads off vampires on the Mayflower. For Sam and Dean to really tap into a family history, which they never knew they had and again never really investigated before, is pretty interesting to us.”

Although Kripke has stepped down as the “Supernatural” showrunner in favor of Kripke, he also stated that he will continue to write and direct occasionally, while offering the producers guidance when needed.

The sixth season of “Supernatural” kicks off on Friday, September 24. [Source]