The first Supernatural season 13 trailer has arrived, and it reveals that there is a new sheriff town: a dapper chap (presumably from Hell) with a southern accent and a smart suit. This as-yet-unnamed adversary is bound to cause a lot of trouble for Jared Padalecki’s Sam and Jensen Ackles’ Dean when the show returns to The CW next month.

The trailer comes at the tail end of a bumper week of news for Supernatural fans. Over the last few days, fans have seen Sam, Dean and Misha Collins’ Castiel on an arty poster that teases the “dawn of darkness”, as well as glimpsing the return of Jake Abel’s Michael in a snow-covered first-look image. Prior to that, showrunner Andrew Dabb revealed that Castiel is “more dead than people usually get on our show” when season 13 kicks off. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.

And now comes the first trailer for Supernatural season 13. It’s less than a minute long, but it showcases a lot of fun - including some knife-throwing action - and raises a number of interesting questions. Perhaps the biggest question raised is this: who on is this white-suited chap calling himself a sheriff and offering a cheeky smirk?

The identity of this character is still firmly under wraps, but that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating. Could this be Asmodeus, the oft-mentioned Prince of Hell? After the deaths of Azazel, Ramiel and Dagon, he’s the only such Prince left in existence. Perhaps season 13 will document his bid to wipe out the Winchesters and avenge his dead family. This theory seems to fit with the idea that, following Crowley's demise, Hell’s remaining occupants will come out and play.

As Andrew Dabb revealed recently in an interview, Crowley’s seemingly-permanent death will create “a power vacuum”. This lack of villainous leadership will see a number of characters, “some we’ve met before and some that are new”, attempting to step into the breach. Presumably, this white-suited fellow will have some sort of rivalry with Lucifer’s son, Jack, played by Alexander Calvert (who was upped to series regular for the new season).

However, you could argue that evil in-fighting isn’t the most appealing factor about Supernatural’s impending return. Light-hearted interactions between Sam, Dean and Castiel are also hotly anticipated - perhaps more so than the new villainous dynamics. For one thing, it should be fun to find out the context behind Dean’s standout trailer line, "Before I destroy the world, let me just grab a bag of curly fries."

MORE: Supernatural Season 13 Poster Revealed

Supernatural season 13 premieres on Thursday, October 12, on The CW.