How will The CW’s upcoming “Supernatural” prequel series find a way to tell a new story about Sam and Dean’s parents without undoing 15 seasons’ worth of backstory?
“It is a great question and it’s a question I’ve been asking myself for the past two years, since my wife and I first came up with the idea,” Jensen Ackles told Variety. “We were sitting around when COVID hit going, ‘You know what would be cool? If we went back in time and we actually saw the story of mom and dad and how they met — but do it in a way that skews the narrative so that we hit those waypoints that we established on ‘Supernatural,’ but get you from A to B, B to C, C to D in a way that is really unexpected.’ And then we found a way to continue that story in a way that might be surprising, but always keeping in our back pocket getting us back to the mythology that is established, which is not an easy task. It’s not an easy map to draw, but we’re doing our best.”
Based on the characters created by “Supernatural” mastermind Eric Kripke, “The Winchesters” takes place before the birth of the original series’ heroes, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles). The prequel delves into how the boys’ parents, John (Drake Rodger) and Mary (Meg Donnelly), met each other and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.
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Robbie Thompson writes and executive produces “The Winchesters,”with Jensen Ackles and Danneel Ackles also executive producing. Glen Winter directed and executive produced the pilot. The Ackles are executive producing via Chaos Machine Productions. Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios produce. Chaos Machine is under an overall deal with WBTV.
“The Winchesters” was ordered to series by the CW last week and added to the broadcast network’s 2022-2023 schedule Thursday ahead of its upfronts presentation to advertisers. “The Winchesters” will air Tuesdays at 8 this fall on the CW.
When Jensen Ackles, who is now starring on the upcoming third season of Kripke’s “The Boys,” and Danneel came up with the idea for the prequel, they first got Kripke’s blessing to take this route with the “Supernatural” lore before moving forward with the project.
“Both legally and as a friend, yes,” Jensen Ackles said with a laugh. “We had to get him to sign off because he created the characters, but I will say that he was very happy to. He trusted me and trusts these characters with the stewardship that I would have.”
Jensen Ackles and Padalecki starred on all 15 seasons of “Supernatural,” which began as a WB series before it combined with UPN to create The CW. The drama debuted in 2005 and concluded in November 2020 after more than 300 episodes.