‘Supernatural’ Prequel Series In Development
A Supernatural prequel series is currently in the works at The CW. The show hails from Jensen Ackles, who played older brother Dean in the original series, as well as his wife Danneel Ackles. According to Deadline, the project will focus on the Winchester parents, and will be titled The Winchesters. Jensen Ackles will also reprise his role of Dean, acting as the narrator of the series.
The Winchesters is written and executive produced by another Supernatural alum, former co-executive producer Robbie Thompson. It will dive into John and Mary Winchester’s backstory, starting with how they first met. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Samantha Smith played the husband and wife on the original CW show. As you may remember, Mary is killed by a demon when Dean’s younger brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) is born. In the process of investigating her death, John passes on his monster-hunting skills to his sons.
Supernatural ran for 15 seasons on The CW, beginning in 2005 and wrapping up in 2020. Blending family drama with fantasy and horror elements, Eric Kripke’s extremely popular show was in development for nearly a decade before it was picked up at the network. Debuting with sky-high ratings, Supernatural would continue to be renewed for season after season until it became the longest-running American live-action fantasy TV series with Season 11.
“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?’” Jensen Ackles told Deadline. “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.”
Ackles Supernatural co-star Jared Padalecki is not only not involved, he heard about the new from Twitter. He also said he was “gutted” to learn of the show and that he won’t be a part of it.