Wait, Are We Getting a ‘Supernatural’ Season 16?!

The Big Picture

• Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are interested in more
  Supernatural
  adventures, sparking speculation of a potential comeback for the beloved series.
• A revival of
  Supernatural
  could bring the show back to its darker roots, reinvigorating the horror-tinged flare that made it popular in its earlier seasons.
• The original ending of
  Supernatural
  was meant to include a reunion of Sam and Dean with all their lost friends and family, which a potential revival could rectify.

Yes, you read that headline right. The long-running dark fantasy-horror series Supernatural might be making a comeback –– though we’re not quite sure when. For fifteen seasons and 327 episodes, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles starred as brothers Sam and Dean Winchester on the beloved WB-turned-CW series, which ended back in 2020. Since the show’s ending, there have been rumblings that the Supernatural gang might be reuniting for a new season or miniseries. Though it hasn’t been too long since the Winchesters last fought Hell together, the prospect that Sam and Dean might return to the family business in the future is an exciting one. After all, in the world of Supernatural, anything can happen.

Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki Are Interested in More ‘Supernatural’

At the 2023 Creation Honolulu convention held between November 17th and 19th, 2023, members of the Supernatural cast were in attendance to promote the series and answer fan questions. While there were plenty of stars from the series there, the most notable were Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who reunited on stage for an extended Q&A session with fans. In response to one question about what happened after Sam and Dean’s reunion in heaven, Padalecki revealed that more Supernatural adventures are being discussed. “I have some ideas, and I hope that now that the writers are back, and the actors are back, that we all get together,” Padalecki explained. “Stay tuned on that,” Ackles added. “There are some conversations regarding that conversation that are being had.”

There’s no denying that Ackles and Padalecki have been a bit busy since Supernatural ended. Padalecki currently headlines the CW’s neo-Western Walker, which is a reimagining of the original Chuck Norris series, Walker, Texas Ranger. In addition to starring in the series, Padalecki is also an executive producer and one of the driving forces behind the prequel spin-off Walker: Independence, which ended abruptly in 2023 after only a single season. Ackles, on the other hand, has been busy as well, voicing Batman in a variety of DC animated features, such as the upcoming Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy, and playing Solider Boy in Supernatural creator Eric Kripke‘s latest series, The Boys. Back in 2022 and 2023, he also co-starred in the third and final season of Big Sky.

Even after Supernatural ended though, it was evident that these guys weren’t done with the Winchesters. “I feel like if we had done 13-episode seasons of Supernatural, we’d probably still be doing Supernatural right now,” Jared Padalecki told TV Insider back in May 2023. “I think a shortened season would just be a really strong, action-packed, story-packed season where we don’t have to do an episode like ‘Bugs.'” That crack about “Bugs” aside, it’s clear that the actor would’ve loved to do more. While Padalecki had Walker to focus on after the death of Sam Winchester, Jensen Ackles continued with the Supernatural universe via the duel prequel/spin-off The Winchesters, where he also served as an executive producer and even returned for a few episodes as Dean Winchester. Sadly, the alternate universe series only ran one season on the CW, but that doesn’t mean the story’s over.

A ‘Supernatural’ Revival Could Return to the Show’s Darker Roots

If Supernatural did return for a shortened season — something more akin to what The Winchesters did — with a tighter story, the demon-hunting brothers could easily have plenty of years still left in them. Sure, the series finale ends with Sam and Dean in Heaven after their respective deaths, but The Winchesters proves that our heroes can still kick some serious monster butt from the afterlife. Because Supernatural ran so long, many felt that the quality of the series dropped after so many years of re-hashed and uninspired plots. Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki were always great, but the show itself often lacked the horror-tinged flare that made it stand out in its earliest seasons. The fact that the show was a weekly made-for-TV horror movie was what drew so many in originally, even if we stayed for Sam and Dean.

“I have this lofty dream of when, after things have settled, we’ll tackle one more case as Sam and Dean,” Ackles revealed back in 2022. “[Maybe] a nice 10-episode short-order for HBO Max – I’m just saying. Like a whole True Detective meets Supernatural. It’s right there.” Ackles is certainly right. The idea is there, and given the fact that Supernatural started out legitimately scary, it’s entirely possible that the show could get back there again if resurrected one final time. Of course, Ackles refers to a single revival season rather than a continued revival series of shorter seasons, but beggars can’t be choosers, and if we want to see the Winchesters back in action, we’ll take what we can get. Plus, it’s always possible Ackles and Padalecki would want to tackle more if the first batch of revival episodes goes well.

Where exactly another season of Supernatural could go after Season 15 is beyond us. For many, Supernatural peaked back when they iced the Devil in Season 5 and Eric Kripke stepped down as showrunner. Whether you agree with that assessment or not, there’s no denying that Sam and Dean have pretty much killed everything in the book at this point. However the show could return, it would have to be either something really big (though, it doesn’t get much bigger than God and the Darkness, right?) or something extremely personal that brings the brothers back together for a final hunt. Of course, it might be even more fun to see Sam and Dean tackle smaller cases again, like back in the old days of Supernatural.

But despite what Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are saying, it doesn’t sound like The CW is all too interested in pursuing more Supernatural at the moment. After the cancelation of The Winchesters and Walker: Independence, as well as other genre shows, the network has been restructuring itself under its current president, Brad Schwartz. “As they say…timing is everything,” noted Ackles on X (formerly Twitter) following the cancelation of The Winchesters. “With a massive Network shift coupled with an industry strike…welp…that’s some unfortunate timing.” While previous network presidents have always been open to whatever Ackles and Padalecki wanted regarding Supernatural‘s future, Schwartz has some other ideas for the network. Currently, they don’t include the Winchesters.

“We’ve had no discussions about any kind of spinoff,” Schwartz announced in February 2024 (via TV Line). “Supernatural was one of the Top 10 most-streamed shows last year. And it’s an incredible franchise with an incredible legacy, incredible history.” Noting that, Schwartz also expressed his excitement for the upcoming fourth season of Walker, which stars Padalecki in the title role. As long as the actor is on the neo-Western drama, it’s unlikely that the network would allow him to star on another series on The CW. Of course, what Ackles and Padalecki have been talking about isn’t necessarily a return to their longstanding network (and after its consistent cancelation of other Supernatural spin-offs, who could blame them?), but rather a Max-based revival apart from the confines of network television.

‘Supernatural’s Finale Was Changed Due to the Pandemic

When Supernatural ended, fans were incredibly split concerning the results. “Carry On” wasn’t a perfect finale, but given the COVID-19 pandemic and the guidelines the series had to follow, it did pretty well. One thing that fans could mostly agree on was that it was bittersweet and that the reunion between Sam and Dean in eternity was all that we could’ve hoped for in the end. But how was Supernatural actually supposed to end? Well, aside from the rock band Kansas literally appearing in heaven at Harvelle’s Roadhouse (something that would be rectified in a Season 1 episode of Walker, which Jensen Ackles directed), most of the friends and family that Sam and Dean lost on Earth were meant to return to greet them in the afterlife.

That’s right, it wasn’t just Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) who would’ve ushered Dean through the pearly gates. Other characters would’ve returned too, and it’s something that co-showrunner and longtime Supernatural writer Andrew Dabb regrets couldn’t happen to this day. “I love what we have now, Dean in the car on the open road, but I have to admit that I sometimes think about our original idea,” Dabb expressed after the fact. “All of Sam and Dean’s family and friends, and one of the greatest rock bands ever on a masterpiece of a set, and I miss it … even though it never really existed.”

If Supernatural got another chance to do things right, maybe this heavenly reunion scene (or at least a revised version of it) could happen after all. While we’re not sure who Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki could convince to return — Alona Tal as Jo Harvelle, please — there’s no denying that a revival could bring back beloved characters that we haven’t quite gotten over. While The Winchesters was able to bring back Dean, Bobby, and even Jack (Alexander Calvert), characters like Castiel (Misha Collins), whose death left fans extremely disappointed, were noticeably absent. Heck, if it was the right sort of story, Mark Sheppard might even make a reappearance as the demon Crowley.

What Could Happen in ‘Supernatural’ Season 16?

As we alluded to before, another season of Supernatural either has to be massive in scale (which the series has already sort of done) or so intricate and personal that the stakes feel high even if they’re not world-ending. After all, the boys have already saved the world time and time again, so why revisit the same formula? Perhaps a sixteenth season of Supernatural could center on the Winchesters saving their own personal world, not unlike the show’s excellent early seasons, be it Sam’s family on Earth (if this, like The Winchesters, took place before their heavenly reunion, of course) or possibly another iteration of their family on another world. Who knows, maybe something invades Heaven and threatens the peace they’ve come to know upstairs?

If Supernatural ultimately continues, one thing is clear: it’ll be all about family. There are plenty of ideas out there that could fit neatly into the Supernatural canon, and even if Sam and Dean face something we could never suspect, we know that, like always, they’ll beat it. We may still be a ways off before the Winchester brothers return — Jared Padalecki still has another season of Walker coming up, and Jensen Ackles is continuing his work as Batman in the upcoming Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths animated trilogy — but when they do, we’re sure to hear their beloved Impala, Baby, purring the whole way.

Supernatural can be streamed exclusively on Netflix in the U.S.

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