Jensen Ackles Is Fighting To Save One Show From Getting Canceled
Jensen Ackles is trying to find a new home for The Winchesters following its cancelation by The CW.
Corporate restructuring has led to the cancellation of several scripted shows on The CW, including the expansive Arrowverse. The latest round of cuts saw the end of The Winchesters, a prequel to the long-running Supernatural. As reported by Comicbook.com, Jensen Ackles announced on Twitter that he is preparing to find a new home for the series.
“Looks like we got work to do,” Ackles wrote following the show’s cancellation. He punctuated the tweet with #SaveTheWinchesters and #spnfamily.
Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki starred in 15 seasons of Supernatural as Dean and Sam Winchester, two brothers embroiled in metaphysical mysteries with malefactors ranging from Bloody Mary to the Devil himself. Ackles is now the narrator and an executive producer on The Winchesters, which explores how Sam and Dean’s parents met and fell in love while hunting demons.
The Winchesters only aired for one 13-episode season before getting the ax. Jensen Ackles seems prepared to find a new home for the series, a strategy that has become common practice in recent years. Shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Minx, and Lucifer are just a few high-profile examples of shows that hopped networks after cancellation.
Jensen Ackles has plenty of bargaining chips. His star power continues to rise – he was a fan favorite on Season 3 of Amazon’s The Boys, and he is becoming a regular at DC Animation as the voice of Batman.
The Supernatural franchise also carries a long history and a loyal fanbase, and a move to streaming could blow the lid off of what The Winchesters is capable of when it is not bound by network TV guidelines. Streamers have tightened their purse strings in recent months, but Jensen Ackles seems determined to revive the prequel entry in the franchise that launched his career.
The cuts at The CW have affected far more than just Jensen Ackles. Popular shows like Walker: Independence have already been canceled, and even superhero projects like Superman & Lois are on the chopping block. Two of the network’s flagship shows, The Flash and Riverdale, are also coming to a close, making way for a less expensive slate of unscripted shows.
For years, The CW has been bleeding millions of dollars. In 2022, Nexstar Media Group closed a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to take a majority stake in The CW, and their strategy has sharply reduced the number of scripted shows on the network. The shift to reality TV is leaving shows like Jensen Ackles’ The Winchesters on the cutting room floor.
While Jensen Ackles fights to save The Winchesters, he will also make another appearance as Batman later this year in the animated film Justice League: Warworld. He will also return to the set of Rust as the film resumes production following the tragic accident that led to the death of the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, in late 2021.
Jensen Ackles is also rumored to reprise his role as Soldier Boy in Season 4 of The Boys, and if he has his way, he will be back as Dean for Season 2 of The Winchesters. The series may be dead for now, but resurrection is always on the table when it comes to the Supernatural franchise.
