Supernatural will not waste any time when it returns with new episodes on September 23.

Jensen Ackles says the seventh season premiere - photos from which we've posted HERE - will be a "direct pick-up" of where the show left off in May, meaning...

"Castiel looks at Sam and Dean and tells them that they're essentially ants in the scheme of things. Now that he's God, he has no need for them and to stay out of his way... When they track Cas down, they realize that when he took in all those monsters souls from purgatory, there were much older things that got into him as well. There's a new, basically unknown, enemy in the world. It's something that the guys have never dealt with."

Ackles laughs and admits the boys will have to "save the world again," but they'll have to do it without the people and items "they've relied on in their hunter life."

A few other teases: Death, Crowley and Jo will all return.

For a lot more from the Supernatural star, visit TV Guide now and read the full interview.