Jared Padalecki’s Co-Star Replaced With American Gods Actor
He's getting new blood!
This article is more than 2 years old
The cast of The CW’s Walker has a new member, added after the departure of original actor Lindsay Morgan. Ashley Reyes of American Gods and How I Met Your Father will be playing a new character on the show, which is an updated reboot of Chuck Norris’ martial arts cheesefest Walker, Texas Ranger. In this version of the show, once and perhaps future Supernatural star Jared Padalecki plays the titular Cordell Walker, a former undercover officer returning to his hometown of Austin, Texas to presumably dispense his own version of justice. We assume that this will be some variety of Texas justice, and that cowboy hats are heavily involved. Beginning with season two, Reyes will be playing the character of Cassie, a former state trooper and current Texas Ranger who teams up with Padalecki’s Walker.
The original TV version of Walker, Texas Ranger starred martial arts legend/Bruce Lee punching bag in the same role Jared Padalecki now plays. It was inspired by Norris’ 1983 film Lone Wolf McQuade, which also starred him as a (former) Texas Ranger. In that film, he was helped by a wolf sidekick, which regrettably has happened in either TV show as of yet. Norris’ show ran from 1993-2001, and eventually resulted in him being made an honorary Texas Ranger by then-Governor Rick Perry. It also spun-off a 2005 television movie called Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire, and at one point did a crossover with the popular CBS action show Martial Law, which starred fellow martial arts legend/Bruce Lee punching bag Sammo Hung.
The new Walker reboot has been an enormous ratings success for The CW, which makes sense considering Jared Padalecki was one of the network’s biggest stars for years. He co-starred with Jensen Ackles for 15 seasons on Supernatural, eventually developing a massive cult following. Although The CW has given every indication they are okay with Supernatural continuing in some capacity, Ackles’ plans for a prequel did seem to cause at least some hurt feelings. Of course, because Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone has opened the doors for prequels to every show, Walker is also receiving its own prequel series titled Walker: Independence. It seems unlikely that there will not be a Supernatural reunion or reboot at some point, but both Padalecki and Ackles are currently keeping busy with their respective projects. Ackles is set to star in season three of Amazon Prime’s The Boys as Soldier Boy, a kind of Captain America analogue that is sure to have a gritty and gross backstory.
It may not always be a good sign for a show to have a fairly major cast change in the first couple of seasons, but it appears that Jared Padalecki’s Walker is doing fine by itself. While the show’s Rotten Tomatoes score is…not great, that The CW had enough faith to renew it for a second season and the prequel shows it must be doing pretty well. So until its ratings drop enough to warrant more talk of a Supernatural revival, we’ll probably be getting plenty more Walker.
