Pivotal 'Supernatural' Character Will Appear More Sparsely In Seventh Season

“Supernatural” fans, we hope absence makes the heart grow fonder.

After earning big buzz from the time he entered season four as the Winchesterbrothers’ favorite angel Castiel, Misha Collins won’t be a regular performer next season, according to TVLine today.

Castiel had just made a huge villainous turn, opening the gates of Purgatory within himself and becoming an all-powerful god that feeds on the power of souls and has a real with-me-or-against-me chip on his shoulder.

The show’s creators say it’s all in lock-step with the way they approach every character, except Sam and Dean Winchester. However, the evolution of Cas will get a deeper exploration in the season to come, as well as his move’s impact on Heaven itself. It is confirmed that Collins will be there for the seventh-season opener.

“When it comes to ‘Supernatural,’ our philosophy is that everyone moves in and out and weaves in and out of the story, obviously with the exception of Sam and Dean,” said executive producer Sera Gamble. “We love Misha. We love and adore the character of Castiel. His character developed to this extent and went in this unexpected direction because we were so inspired by him.

“[In Season 6], we consciously kept some of this angel civil war off camera because we are interested in what happens on Earth,” she explains. “We are interested in what happens in the purview of the boys. We feel that in terms of what we can accomplish, the scope of the show, our storyline is best accomplished where the Impala can go.”