The Winchesters - Everything You Need To Know

Following monster-hunting brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), "Supernatural" was a well-loved and long-running series that tackled subjects like family, religion, death, and belief. Generally following a monster-of-the-week formula that saw the brothers contend with some kind of entity, whether it be divine, demonic, or ghostly, "Supernatural" kept fans enraptured for over 300 episodes and 15 seasons, even if the ending was divisive among the fandom. 

Considering the popularity of "Supernatural," it seemed like only a matter of time before a spin-off series materialized. As reported by Collider, there have been several attempts so far, with "Supernatural: Bloodlines" and "Supernatural: Wayward Sisters" getting backdoor pilots within the main series. However, unfortunately for fans, neither of these were picked up. And yet, there was yet another satellite show from "Supernatural," and this one actually is set to slay The CW. So, what we do know so far about the prequel series "The Winchesters," which premiered on October 11, 2022?

The cast of "The Winchesters" has at least one familiar face and several new ones. As you can hear in the trailer for the series, Jensen Ackles reprises the role of Dean Winchester, who serves as a narrator for the spin-off. That will no doubt help ease any reluctant "Supernatural" fans into the new franchise property. 

As for the fresh blood, the series stars Meg Donnelly as future Winchester matriarch and current monster hunter Mary Campbell and Drake Roger as John Winchester. You may know Donnelly from the ABC sitcom "American Housewife," while Roger is a relative newcomer who was most recently seen in the Paramount+ original film "The In Between." As noted by IMDb, they are joined by Bianca Kajlich, Demetria McKinney, Nida Khurshid, Hank Murphy, Michael Tacconi, and Jojo Fleites.

In an interview with TVLine, Donnelly spoke about how Ackles acted as a guiding light during the production of "The Winchesters," and said, "He was on set every single day of the pilot, just like being super collaborative, giving us notes, telling us about the universe that we might not know about. So it was really good insight." It seems as if "Supernatural" alum Ackles took an "all hands on deck" approach to "The Winchesters," and hopefully, his love of his long-running former show transfers to this new iteration.

Speaking to Deadline in the early days of development for "The Winchesters," Jensen Ackles revealed that the idea came about after he and his wife and co-executive producer Daneel Ackles began their company Chaos Machine Productions. In fact, according to Ackles, "[W]e knew the first story we wanted to tell was the story of John and Mary Winchester, or rather the 'Supernatural' origin story. I always felt like my character, Dean, would have wanted to know more about his parents' relationship and how it came to be. So I love the thought of having him take us on this journey." And as we can see in the series' trailer, that is exactly what fans are in store for. 

The trailer establishes that Mary is already deeply mired in the monster-hunting game when she meets John, who has recently returned home from the Vietnam War. According to a plot synopsis reported by Bloody Disgusting, the series will see Mary recruit John and a group of friends to help her with her demon-slaying endeavors after the disappearance of her father, a set-up that nicely echoes the events that set her sons on their own adventures so many years in the future. 

The premise already has some "Supernatural" fans worried about "The Winchesters" throwing away franchise canon, as the original show establishes that John never knew about Mary's side gig until after her death. But with Ackles so closely involved with the production, it seems likely that they will find a way to work around those issues.