Supernatural’s epic conclusion after fifteen seasons is a milestone that may have left The CW’s television franchise in a state of inertia since November 2020, but the network’s spinoff intentions have never stopped. Indeed, the latest attempt, prequel project The Winchesters, has been gestating for nearly a year, designed to showcase the early monster-hunting exploits of Sam and Dean Winchester’s parents—who we now know will be played by up-and-comers Meg Donnelly and Drake Rodger.
The CW, which recently ordered The Winchesters pilot, revealed that Meg Donnelly (American Housewife, Z-O-M-B-I-E-S) will play Mary Campbell, and Drake Rodger (The In Between, Not Alone) will play John Winchester. The pilot will depict Mary as a member of a monster-hunting family, who, despite only being 19, has been long-tested, and is looking to get out of the game; aspirations dampened by the mysterious disappearance of her father. Mary’s path will eventually cross with John, a freshly returned veteran of the Vietnam War, whose homefront exploits yield another mystery connected to a secret organization of monster hunters. The events will be set into context by a narrating voiceover by Dean Winchester himself, Jensen Ackles.
Of course, in the traditional Supernatural lore, Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) would die a fiery death at the hands of yellow-eyed demon Azazel next to the crib of a still-infant Sam, causing grieving husband John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to join the secret subculture of monster hunters in a perpetual quest for revenge; one that would draw sons Sam and Dean into the slaying trade as well. However, the duo’s paths became a bit more circuitous since the series would eventually see Sam and Dean make a few trips back in time—via angel-spun timey-wimey—to meet younger versions of Mary and John, played by Amy Gumenick and Matt Cohen, respectively. Moreover, the pilot-martyred Mary, as played by a returning Smith, would be resurrected at the end of Season 11, which kicked off a three-season run reunited with her adult sons. Lastly, Morgan—in the midst of fielding his run as villain-turned-antihero Negan on The Walking Dead—would return as the long-dead John for a one-off reunion with the boys and Mary by way of a magic wish-granting pearl in the show’s hyped 300th episode, “Lebanon” (as seen in the title image).
Consequently, based on the sporadic details divulged for The Winchesters, the pilot and prospective series is likely looking to significantly retcon the eponymous family’s formation, notably since John was purportedly never aware of the supernatural world of monsters—and never even knew of his own family’s legacy with a more-refined society of monster hunters in the Men of Letters—until Mary’s death. Indeed, the series appears destined to make the central couple and destined parents into a pair of romantically driven monster hunters. Thus, it will be interesting to see if the pilot’s differences from the traditional story are properly reconciled or just ignored outright.
Regardless, The Winchesters represents the biggest opportunity for both of its stars. Donnelly is the better-established of the duo from a regular role on the 2016-2021 ABC sitcom, American Housewife, and fields a genre-pertinent starring role for the ongoing Disney Channel franchise, Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, which has manifested with two TV movies, an animated series (which she voices) and an upcoming third feature. Her eventual onscreen love interest, Rodger, is still a relative newcomer, having only made a handful of appearances since his debut in the 2020 indie movie, Murder RX, and was most recently seen in a supporting role in the Paramount+ movie, The In Between.
Interestingly enough, the crucial announcement of Donnelly and Rodger’s casting was beaten to the punch last week by Deadline’s report of supporting players. From that, we learned that Nida Khurshid (Station 19) will play Latika Desai, an intense, intelligent young trainee hunter, and the onscreen-debuting Jojo Fleites will play Carlos Cervantez, a confident, but positively laid-back brand of hunter.
The Winchesters will take shape primarily under the creative purview of Robbie Thompson, a veteran Supernatural producer, who is steering this proverbial ship as a writer and executive producer. However, he will be joined in the latter capacity by main series star (and apparent omniscient voice-over provider) Jensen Ackles and wife (and guest-starring alum) Danneel Ackles. That collaboration created a publicly touted Twitter tiff between the franchise’s typically thick-as-thieves main series stars, seeing as it moved forward as a pet project of Ackles and his wife without the knowledge of onscreen sibling Jared Padalecki. However, the drama—which, in a very CW-series-like manner, blew up over the keeping of secrets—would eventually be quelled, and cooler heads prevailed.
Will The Winchesters finally snap the Supernatural franchise’s streak of spinoff failures fielded during the main show’s twilight years? It will prospectively arrive in the wake of two distinct backdoor-pilot-pushed attempts in the monster family dynasty drama, Supernatural: Bloodlines, and recurring favorite Sheriff Jody Mills’s Sioux-Falls-set monster-hunting foster family drama, Wayward Sisters. The third time could finally be the creature-decapitating charm.
