In 2020, the CW staple series Supernatural ended after a fifteen-season run. For many fans, the final few episodes did not bring the story of the Winchester brothers to a satisfying conclusion.
The finale, Carry On, was filmed during COVID. As such the cast list was cut down heavily from the original plan according to Entertainment Weekly. This (along with episode 18, Despair) also came under heavy criticism due to how the final moments of major characters played out.
Since then, discussions of a revival have been rife among the Supernatural cast and fandom. But will a sixteenth season come to pass? Here’s everything we know about a Supernatural revival.
Is Supernatural coming back?
Warner Bros. Discovery has not yet confirmed any plans for a Supernatural revival. However, there are indications that something could be in the pipeline.
Lead actors Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester) and Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) have discussed the possibility of a revival on multiple occasions during the convention circuit. The most prominent rumours came out during the Creation Honolulu convention in November 2023, according to Collider.
Padalecki said: “I have some ideas, and I hope that now that the writers are back, and the actors are back, that we all get together”. Ackles then followed this up with “Stay tuned on that… there are some conversations regarding that conversation that are being had.”
Jensen has had behind-the-scenes involvement with another project related to Supernatural – a prequel called The Winchesters, which aired in 2022. This was created by Chaos Machine Productions, which he is a creator of, together with his wife Danneel Ackles (who had a guest stint as the angel Anael on Supernatural).
The CW/Warner Bros. Discovery
Sadly, The Winchesters was cancelled after just a single season. However, the fact that Jensen has been actively continuing stories in the Supernatural universe could indicate that more shows are being explored, including a revival.
Before these rumours, Padalecki and Ackles had been busy with other projects such as Walker and The Boys respectively, whilst Misha Collins (Castiel) played the role of Harvey Dent on Gotham Knights.
Walker season 4 is due to release this summer, but Ackles has (as far as we know) taken a back seat from his role as Soldier Boy on The Boys, whilst Gotham Knights is another CW project that has not been renewed. Therefore, the stars may be aligning for all three major actors to have time in their schedules for a revival.
Would this be Supernatural season 16, or a Supernatural reboot?
No confirmation has been given by the cast or creators of whether this would be an official ‘season 16’, or a fresh reboot. It probably depends on if the original actors are returning, or if Warner wishes to do something different.
Ackles told TV Insider in 2022 that he liked the idea of a shorter final season: “I have this lofty dream of when, after things have settled, we’ll tackle one more case as Sam and Dean… [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.”
Having a shorter run would be a break from Supernatural’s traditional 20-odd episode season, but would give time to focus on a strong, shorter story. In that case, this may be considered a spin-off miniseries.
Who could return for Supernatural season 16?
As we’ve already explored, we’d expect Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester), Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) and Misha Collins (Castiel) to be involved in a revival, if it comes to pass.
Ackles originally had plans to bring back old faces in future seasons of The Winchesters before its cancellation. As he told Entertainment Weekly, “We were talking not only about story and where we wanted to take our cast, we were talking about who we were going to bring back from the mothership”.
As the final episodes heavily featured Nephilim Jack Kline (Alexander Calvert), then he could also return. Other likely candidates to be back on the show could include Rowena (Ruth Connell), Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver), Crowley (Mark Sheppherd), Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes), Donna Hanscum (Brianna Buckmaster), Gabriel (Richard Speight) and many more.
If the reboot incorporates some of the cast from The Winchesters, then we could see the return of young John (Drake Rodger) and Mary (Meg Donnelly), or even their older counterparts (Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Samantha Smith).
The CW/Warner Bros. Discovery
We don’t yet know who could be involved behind the camera. The Winchesters recruited former writer Robbie Thompson, but previous Supernatural writers and directors include Andrew Dabb, Robert Singer, Sera Gamble, and of course, the creator himself, Eric Kripke.
What could the plot of Supernatural season 16 be about?
Major spoilers for the ending of Supernatural and The Winchesters below
By the time season 15 of Supernatural rolled around, the stakes were higher than ever – pitting the brothers against God himself, AKA Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict). Chuck had long been writing the story of the brothers, pulling the strings and controlling their lives.
After finally defeating him with the help of Jack, the Winchesters went back into their usual monster-hunting business. As such, they weren’t being kept ‘safe’ by higher powers anymore. Therefore, Dean ended up meeting his demise by being impaled on a rusty nail during an average case against vampires.
Dean has overcome many adversaries across his lifetime, so this ending felt extremely flat and anticlimactic for many fans. After his death, he met his old friend Bobby in Heaven, and drove the Impala on an endless road, before finally meeting up with his brother who died of old age.
Whilst Sam got to live a long and happy life, the audience only saw this through a series of flashforwards, and never actually got to know who his mysterious partner was – prompting fans to call her ‘Sam’s blurry wife’. Many suspected that the woman was Eileen (Shoshannah Stern), a fellow hunter and love interest for the younger brother. However, we never knew for sure.
Therefore, a new season could either explore a threat to Heaven, where the brothers take on one final case that addresses some of the loose plot threads left behind in season 15. Or it could take place in the time between Dean and Sam’s deaths. This would align with events that took place in Supernatural’s prequel, The Winchesters.
In the finale of this show, a young John and Mary Winchester met a mysterious stranger who appeared ‘Back to the Future’ style in a Chevy Impala. The audience naturally knew him as Dean Winchester.
The show reveals that these versions of John and Mary aren’t technically Dean’s parents. He has come to another world, back in time, to create an alternate happy ending for his parents. He gives them a letter from his grandfather, Henry (Gil McKinney), in the hope that John will understand more about The Men of Letters and hunting and become a more caring parent for the brothers in the future.
Dean also passes on his hunter’s journal to John and Mary, along with the Colt, a gun that can kill nearly every being in the universe. This is so they both stand a chance at living against their future enemies, such as Azazel.
Therefore, Supernatural season 16 could explore either a multiverse or another branch of time. Perhaps Dean goes back to an earlier point in the show to change the course of history, or we discover how events would unfold with The Winchester’s timeline and how this could have altered the lives of the brothers and their family, which famously “don’t end with blood”.
Ackles shared hopes to revisit these characters in some capacity after The Winchesters was cancelled:
Another huge unresolved plot line comes from the eighteenth episode of season 15. Dean and Cas were being hunted by Billie (AKA Death) and ended up trapped in The Bunker with no way out.
To save Dean, Castiel summoned The Empty, a void entity who the angel had made a deal with a few years back. He did this by doing the thing that made him the happiest, which was confessing his love for Dean.
The romantic declaration (according to Misha Collins via Pride) allowed The Empty to take both Cas and Billie, leaving Dean alone, and not giving him a chance to talk about this revelation from his best friend or explore whether he could feel the same way.
Much of the Supernatural fandom has long been invested in the complicated relationship between Dean and Cas (AKA Destiel), and many critics argued that Cas’s statement moments before death was a huge disservice as it played into the ‘bury your gays’ troupe seen in many TV series and films before.
There’s hope from many fans that Dean could reunite with Cas in a revival, and perhaps finally have a nuanced discussion about that confession.
The CW / Warner Bros.
Possible antagonists for the revival could include previous characters such as The Empty, Chuck and Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino). Alternatively, we could visit an entirely new fantasy being – perhaps one that is involved with the multiverse or time-travel, if that’s the route that the show ends up going down.
What network could Supernatural 16 air on?
This is where things get a bit tricky. The CW is now under the ownership of Nexstar, which is changing its focus to linear broadcast content and sports programming from 2024 onwards. Current TV series on the channel, such as All American: Homecoming and Superman & Lois, will continue for now.
Traditional CW staples such as Supernatural don’t align with this strategy. Therefore, the major alternative is the streaming service Max – a platform Ackles has previously expressed interest in.
It’d be surprising if the revival aired on another channel or platform that’s not part of Warner Bros. Discovery, considering that the original show was under this company. Then again, previous seasons have been syndicated on major streaming platforms, so it isn’t entirely impossible.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
How to watch Supernatural seasons 1 to 15 in the UK and US
If you want to relive the adventures of The Winchester family in the UK, then you can catch seasons 1 through 15 on Amazon Prime Video. Subscriptions for this start from £5.99 per month for video streaming only, or £8.99 per month for a full Prime subscription. Note that you’ll have to pay extra if you want to go ad-free.
You can also watch seasons 1 through 13 for free on ITVX. Again, this includes adverts. You can sign up for ITVX Premium to forgo these.
US readers can catch Supernatural on Netflix. Accounts start from $6.99 per month, and you can find a breakdown of the plans and pricing here.