The CW Orders Pilot for Jensen Ackles’ SUPERNATURAL Prequel – Television – Nerdist

Death in Supernatural was a fluid occurrence. In a series where angels, demons, and ghosts frequently appeared, no one was ever really gone. And that also applies to the series itself. Back in June 2021, Deadline reported a Supernatural prequel series called The Winchesters was in development with a script commitment at The CW. Fast-forward to February 2022 and The CW has formally ordered a pilot. Jensen Ackles and Danneel Ackles are aboard as executive producers (through their company Chaos Machine Productions) along with Robbie Thompson. Ackles will reprise his role of Dean Winchester… just in narrator form.

The Winchesters will focus on Dean and Sam’s parents, John and Mary. As Supernatural revealed, Mary Winchester (maiden name Mary Campbell) came from a family of hunters. Mary’s parents brought her into the lifestyle—a life from which Mary tried to escape to have a normal life with John. She retired from hunting, married John, and had Sam and Dean. Her apple pie life didn’t last; the demon Azazel killed her, sparking John’s entry into hunting and raising Sam and Dean in the life Mary never wanted.

The CW

Dean Winchester will narrate The Winchesters and tell the story of how John and Mary met and risked it all to save the world. Aww. Ackles told Deadline, “After Supernatural wrapped its 15th season, we knew it wasn’t over. Because like we say in the show, ‘nothing ever really ends, does it?’ When Danneel and I formed Chaos Machine Productions, we knew the first story we wanted to tell was the story of John and Mary Winchester, or rather the Supernatural origin story. I always felt like my character, Dean, would have wanted to know more about his parents’ relationship and how it came to be. So I love the thought of having him take us on this journey.”

Given that Supernatural ran for 15 seasons on The CW, it’s no surprise that the network is game for more Winchester material. They tried out backdoor pilots for spinoffs at a couple of points, but the ideas didn’t work out. Here, though, they have tried and true material with the Winchesters. We’ve even seen young John and Mary Winchester (played by Matt Cohen and Amy Gumenick, respectively) in Supernatural. Whatever weirdness Sam and Dean dealt with in the drama, it always came back to family. This is a fitting subject for a prequel.

The CW

But if you’re wondering: where does Sam Winchester fit into this? Well, he apparently doesn’t. After news about the Supernatural prequel broke on Thursday evening, Jared Padalecki shared his shocked reaction on Twitter. He apparently didn’t know anything about the show and also apparently lost Jensen Ackles’ phone number?

Padalecki tweeted that he felt gutted. And hey, after working so closely with Ackles on the show for over 15 years, we get it. Let’s hope they make up, just like Sam and Dean always did in the series.

In a further update on Friday, it seems the duo talked are back on positive terms again.

But while Padalecki isn’t part of the Supernatural spinoff, he is busy at work with a spinoff of his own. The Walker star is executive producing Walker: Independence, a prequel for The CW set in the 1800s following Abby Walker, Bostonian who winds up in Texas as her journey out West hits a few tragic snags.

Should The CW like The Winchesters pilot, it’ll be the first Supernatural spinoff to make it to air.

Originally published on June 24, 2021.

Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of A Kid’s Guide to Fandom, available now. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.