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The Vampire Diaries: Damon Won't Be a Monk Without Elena
Plus: Scoop on the season's big villains
On Sunday, The Vampire Diaries cast and producers gathered together to give Comic-Con a taste of what's to come and to honor their recently departed comrade Nina Dobrev, who played Elena for the last six seasons.
But life goes on (sometimes twice?) in Mystic Falls, and stars Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Kat Graham, Candice Accola and Michael Malarkey joined executive producers Julie Plec and Caroline Dries to reveal what to expect in Season 7 and to goof off with a huge room full of adoring fans.
Get all the latest Comic-Con news
Meet Kaimon? Unfortunately, the show just started production, which meant there was no new footage to show. Instead, the show treated us to the best fan-created video ever, which compiled the best romance, the craziest violence and then one last lingering shot of Damon and Elena kissing in the rain ... but when they pause for breath, it's revealed to be Kai's face superimposed onto Elena's body.
Know your fans "If I want to make the crowd go wild, I only have to say two words: Jared and Jensen," Wesley joked, referring to fellow CW stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, whose panel for Supernatural would follow.
Elena's sleeping curse Plec noted that the way she wrote out Dobrev's character - making her sleep for 67 years - put an intense, romantic fairy-tale quality to the show -- well, except for Damon's nature. "Monk, my ass!" Somerhalder said about the thought of Damon staying celibate for 67 years. Without Elena around, Damon will be tempted to stray from the straight line and be naughty again. "It's the old f---ing Damon, the Damon we fell in love with... that sexy, volatile, fun, dangerous [Damon]. I'm bringing it back," the actor said.
Bonnie and Damon Somerhalder thought the beginning of Season 6, where the two characters were stuck together, "was the best stuff ever. It was a lot of fun. They hate each other; they love each other... it's an amazing recipe for a lot of drama," he said. As for Bonnie being tied to Elena, that doesn't necessarily mean she has job security. Dries joked that Bonnie dies every year and that she has two or three more years left to her.
'Shipping names Accola says the 'shipper name Steroline for Stefan and Caroline sounds like hand sanitizer. Although Somerhalder noted that "Delena" for Damon and Elena wasn't better, Wesley quipped, " Delena sounds like a disease. Steroline sounds like it could be the cure for that disease."
Season 7 villains Dries noted that bringing in Lily's family, six heretics, will bring fresh energy to the show. Among them are three women - Valerie, who has been cast but not announced yet - and Nora and Mary Louise, who are "nasty, nasty girls."
More to come "I do not foresee the show ending after next season. I think we have more story to tell," Plec said. "[But] I know how it ends."
Favorite OTP (one true pair) A fan asked which pairings were their favorites, Malarkey: Denzo; Wesley: Stelijah; Plec: Dalaric; Somerhalder: "I love them all - Dalaric, Denzo... now it's Kaimon." Dries: Katherine and Stefan; Graham couldn't make up her mind and named many couples.
The Vampire Diaries returns Thursday, Oct. 8 at 8/7c on The CW.
(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS, one of CW's parent companies.)
Vampire Diaries' Ian Somerhalder: Season 7 Damon will be dark, volatile - and sexy!