After 15 seasons, the fantasy-horror-drama series Supernatural finally came to a close in 2020. Now, the show has been confirmed to get a prequel about Sam and Dean Winchester’s parents, John and Mary. The spin-off is spearheaded by former Dean Winchester actor, Jensen Ackles, and his wife Danneel.
Monster hunting is almost back in season. The CW’s brand new prequel series The Winchesters is about to fill in a lot of unanswered questions left by Supernatural, and give us an origin story for how Dean and Sam’s parents met. That’s right, The Winchesters will tell the story of how John Winchester met a young monster hunter named Mary Campbell, and then they fell in love, got married, and had two sons. Obviously, there’s a whole lot more to the story than that, and it will all be narrated by Dean Winchester himself, Jensen Ackles. He and his wife Danneel will also be producing the show together, along with Supernatural alum Robbie Thompson.
Trailer
The trailer is over three minutes long and takes us back to 1972, where we meet John and Mary Winchester, and get a taste of all the demons and creatures they are set to encounter in the series.
The trailer also features several callbacks to the original series, including the secretive Men of Letters, and Mary contemplating the family business of being a hunter. They are joined by two more young hunters, who were absent from the original series, in a quest that involves vampires, werewolves, and demons, quite familiar to the fans of the popular CW franchise. However, the story showcased in the trailer might seem a bit different from what the fans remember from Supernatural, which we will discuss in the next section. We also got another trailer for the show in August 2022, which you can check out below:
What Is The Winchesters About?
The entire story will be framed from the perspective of Dean Winchester, who will be narrating the story.
The Winchesters will explore how John and Mary Winchester first met, fell in love, and risked their lives to save both each other and the entire world as young hunters. Set in 1972, the trailer shows a young John, played by Drake Rodger, returning from the Vietnam War, perplexed about his life’s purpose and the mystery surrounding his father’s mysterious disappearance. His chance meeting with Mary Campbell, portrayed by Meg Donnelly, changes his perception of the known world, as he comically tries to “help” her in a fight with a demon.
Mary has her own issues to deal with, reconsidering her job as a hunter after the death of a close friend. However, she is pulled back into her role as her own father goes missing. The “missing dad” phenomenon brings the two protagonists together, something that also forced Sam and Dean to work together at the beginning of Supernatural. However, one may complain about the inconsistency of this storyline with the Supernatural canon, where Mary initially hated John until they were struck by a cupid’s arrow (quite literally), and John knew nothing about hunting until Mary’s death at the beginning of Supernatural. These can be explained later on in The Winchesters, via a memory-erasing scene by an angel, a deal with a demon, or time-traveling as we are aware of the various universes and timelines already existing in the Supernatural universe. Given the nature of the show, anything is possible!
The Cast of The Winchesters
Rodger, Donnelly, and Ackles won’t have “The Winchesters” all to themselves. Bianca Kajlich will portray Millie Winchester, John’s mother, and Dean and Sam’s grandmother who had never been seen in “Supernatural” before. Nida Khurshid and Jojo Fleites will play Latika and Carlos, respectively, two other monster hunters who team up with John and Mary. Demetria McKinney will play a bookshop owner named Ada, while Michael Tacconi will play a mysterious character named Hank.
As for crew members, you’ll be seeing a lot of familiar names. Not only will Ackles appear in the series, but he’ll also serve as an executive producer alongside his wife, Danneel Harris-Ackles. “Supernatural” writer Robbie Thompson has returned to write and executive produce the series. Other producers include McG, David H. Goodman, and Glen Winter, who also directed the pilot. Eric Kripke, the original creator of “Supernatural,” has given his blessing to the series but will not be involved in it.
The Winchesters: Release Date
Season 1 of The Winchesters has wrapped filming in New Orleans according to Danneel Ackles’ Instagram. The first trailer revealed that the first season of The Winchesters will arrive in the Fall of 2022. Since then, we’ve had confirmation that the series will premiere on The CW on Tuesday, October 11, 2022. According to the network’s full lineup for fall 2022, all episodes of The Winchesters will air on Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
