The adventures of Dean and Sam may be over, but the story of the Winchester family will continue in a Supernatural prequel series that’s in the works at The CW. The Winchesters is set to focus on the brothers’ parents, John and Mary Winchester. What’s more, Jensen Ackles is set to reprise his role as Dean in the capacity of narrator. He’ll also exec produce alongside his wife, and Supernatural recurring guest star, Daneel Ackles.
As per a brief synopsis shared by Deadline, The Winchesters is “the epic, untold love story of how John met Mary and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.” The show, which has a script commitment, is set to have Supernatural alum Robbie Thompson serve as its showrunner.
As you’d expect, this shock news has sent the Supernatural fandom reeling, with social media flooding with reactions to The Winchesters. And, it has to be said, most of them seem to be in the negative. You might think that fans would love to have more SPN, but the choice of the subject matter for the show is not what a lot of folks would’ve chosen.
https://twitter.com/despairstiels/status/1408213398689439746
sorry but i can't watch a supernatural prequel without sam and dean. we've already seen john and mary's past in flashbacks and it wasn't that interesting.
— bea ✌🏼 {commissions open} (@xxnelli_) June 24, 2021
The CW: What can we do to keep the Supernatural franchise alive?
Fans Screaming Online: Fix It Special, Destiel, Revive Wayward Sisters
The CW: Oh! How about the love story of John and Mary 🥰
Fans: 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏿♀️🤦🏼🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽🤦🏼♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾
— Alyssa Hamlet (@alyssa_hamlet) June 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/SmellOfRoses925/status/1408224827303923714
https://twitter.com/thewinterarrow/status/1408288436616847364
supernatural fandom right now pic.twitter.com/QjE77hAb3M
— ⎊Captim⎊ (@irvnstark) June 25, 2021
me attempting to watch the supernatural prequel moodboard pic.twitter.com/XPqoBEQJtq
— m (@samcentric) June 25, 2021
society if supernatural ended two years early and wayward sisters was the post-spn spinoff instead of this prequel thing pic.twitter.com/CPuDhXLirP
— 💚💙 Kitty loves her heller friends 💙💚 (@CasDeservesAHug) June 25, 2021
John and Mary Winchester were played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Samantha Smith in the original series. In Supernatural lore, Mary was killed by a demon when Sam (Jared Padalecki, who is not involved in this spinoff) was just a baby. This opened John’s eyes to the world of the paranormal and he became a hunter, eventually passing his skills and expertise onto his two sons. After appearing in season 1, John died in the season 2 premiere.
The CW will be hoping it’s third time’s the charm when it comes to producing a Supernatural spinoff, as the network has previously attempted to get two other offshoots off the ground but to no avail. First, there was werewolf-themed Bloodlines, developed in 2014, and then female-centric Wayward Sisters in 2018. Clearly, the network believed that sticking with the Winchester clan was the way to go, but fans feel differently.