Supernatural Franchise Officially Dead After Failing To Find A New Network
The Supernatural spin-off The Winchesters has failed to find another on-screen home after getting the axe from The CW.
The road has officially run out on the Supernatural prequel series, The Winchesters as Deadline reports that despite the creative team’s best efforts, no other network has picked up the project. After it was announced that The CW wouldn’t be renewing the spin-off for its second season, co-creator and star, Jensen Ackles, revealed that the fight wasn’t over and that he and the other heads would be shopping the title around to other prospective buyers. Unfortunately, no one was spellbound by the production enough to take it on.
Sharing his upset with the news, Supernatural star Jensen Ackles (who also co-created The Winchesters with his wife, Daneel Ackles, and Supernatural producer Robbie Thompson) said that the decision came down to “unfortunate timing.” A major understatement, the series aired during The CW’s purchase by Nexstar, a move that has seen several scripted productions get the boot as the network opts for more unscripted content.
Forever grateful for the fans that have backed the world of Supernatural, Jensen Ackles gave them a shoutout in his Twitter post, thanking them for being in The Winchesters’ corner as it sought out other opportunities.
Likewise, Ackles’ on-screen brother, Jared Padalecki, also faced some massive disappointment during renewal season as it was revealed that Walker: Independence, a prequel to his series Walker, would not be moving forward with a sophomore season. Fans of Walker will be happy to know that the show will be going on to a fourth season.
After 15 seasons on the air, Supernatural finally came to an end in 2020. For years, audiences tuned in to watch the brotherly dynamics of Dean (Ackles) and Sam Winchester (Padalecki) as they picked up the family business of demon hunting. After many years, storylines, friends, and foes later, the series came to an end with Ackles then giving audiences hope that a new tale would be told in The Winchesters.
Serving as a prequel to Supernatural, The Winchesters dug into the early days of the family when Sam and Dean’s parents, Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly) and John Winchester (Drake Rodger) met, began hunting together, fell in love, and started the Supernatural family. The series was intriguing enough as an origin story but it was revealed that not only would Ackles be reprising his role as Dean Winchester but that a handful of others including Jim Beaver and Alexander Calvert would also return for cameos.
With the dedicated fandom that Supernatural kept a tight grasp on for 15 years – one that would have certainly followed them into 20 years – it was a sure-fire thing that The Winchesters would rise to the top of The CW. Although the network gave it the ax, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the end of the line for the series but if it is, Ackles and the rest of the creative team tied up the season finale in a satisfying bow that gives us at least some peace of mind.
