Mildly spoilery, as you’d expect. And we know how spoilerphobic some Supernatural fans can be…

Misha Collins is set return to Supernatural later this season for at least three episodes, reports TVLine .

A spokesperson for Warner Bros TV tells the site that Collins will appear as a guest star in episode 17 and then in “at least two additional episodes” — though, mysterious, not necessarily as fallen angel Castiel, who appeared to have been killed of early in season seven.

So is this a panic move by the producers to try to woo back fans using a popular character after negative fans reactions to the recent episode “Season 7, Time for a Wedding!”? That was met with widespread claims that the show had jumped the shark, with some fan forums urging a boycott of the show. Whether or not that had any real effect, the viewing figures for the following episode certainly fell to an all-time low of 1.55 million on overnights.

But maybe the producers aren’t panicking just yet. For one thing, the viewing figures bounced bounced back up again healthily the following week (to above the season average, indeed), and for another executive producer Sera Gamble had already said shortly after Castiel’s apparent demise, “It has always been our intention to bring back Misha in some form… We certainly can’t say too much about where the story is going to go, but we love Misha and want to continue to work with him.”

Either way having Misha back certainly isn’t going to harm the viewing figures.