Manifest cast on Cal's big change in season 4: 'He's got so many daddy issues'

No one on Manifest has gone through more of a change than Cal.

Fans of the newly revived drama will remember one of the big season 3 cliffhangers, which was when the Stone family's youngest, played by Jack Messina, vanished under supernatural circumstances only to reappear five years older.

Ty Doran now portrays Cal on Manifest season 4, and he and his fellow cast members teased the character's growing-up process at EW's New York Comic Con video suite Saturday ahead of the show's big panel.

"He's in this older body but has not matured to the level that would be apropos of his stature now, I guess," Doran says. "So it has been weird to... He's like a little kid. He's so angsty, he's got so many daddy issues, and he wants to help so bad. It's been interesting... Where he begins and where he ends are two very different places, and I think he really grows up over the course of this season."

Netflix The cast of 'Manifest' unpack the big changes coming in season 4.

Change is coming for all the characters by virtue of the two-year time jump between season 3 and season 4. The last finale also saw the death of Grace (Athena Karkanis) and the kidnapping of baby Eden by Angelina (Holly Taylor).

Ben, says actor Josh Dallas, is "deep in his grief spiral and shame spiral, and his anger — he's in a lot of anger. And he's going away from everything, and that's including the callings. And that also includes, unfortunately, his family that's still around him, that still loves him, that wants him to get better. But he can't quite see the [forest] through the trees and he pushes them all away. There's some harrowing and emotional moments with him in this first part."

As a result, Luna Blaise says Cal's sister Olive takes on "a motherly role" in the face of their distant father. "Olive and Zeke do become the sort of parents," Matt Long adds. "We're sort of like the foundation for the family as the others are off doing other things."

Netflix will premiere the 10 episodes that consist of Manifest season 4's Part 1 on Nov. 4. A premiere for the remaining 10 episodes in Part 2 has not been revealed.

Watch showrunner Jeff Rake and his cast — including Taylor, Melissa Roxburgh, JR Ramirez, Parveen Kaur, and Daryl Edwards — discuss the journey from being canceled by NBC after season 3 to then being saved by Netflix for season 4 in the video above.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Manifest destiny: How a canceled NBC drama came back from the dead

• Manifest season 4 trailer teases game-changing revelations about Flight 828

• Manifest season 4 first footage sees Michaela chase a calling