The Winchesters made its New York Comic Con debut on Sunday, with a special screening of the first episode. Cast and creators talked about the new series and answered some questions.
RELATED: Keep up to date on our NYCC 2022 coverage!
Panel: Executive Producers Jensen Ackles and Danneel Ackles, Stars Drake Rodger and Meg Donnelly, and producer and showrunner Robbie Thompson
The Winchesters stars Drake Rodger as John Winchester and Meg Donnelly as Mary Winchester. They are parents of the legendary Sam and Dean Winchester of Supernatural. The show is about how John and Mary fall in love and hunt monsters in the 1970s.
The show idea comes from Jensen and Daneel Ackles. The couple discussed expanding the Supernatural world during the pandemic. The next thing you know, we have a new show. Jensen says if they were going to expand it, there would have to be a Winchester involved. He narrates the show, saying he liked the idea of narrating the show like How I Met Your Mother.
The new cast also includes Jojo Fleites (Carlos), Nida Khurshid (Latika), and Tom Welling as John Campbell, Mary’s father. Welling joins the panel, saying he lost a bet to Jensen and that’s how he got the part. Jensen says he gets to call Welling ‘papi’ now and jokes to Donnelly that her father is Superman.The two friends first appeared on Smallville together.
Thompson made it clear that the new show wouldn’t re-write any of Supernatural’s history. Rodger said he has zero intention of living up to Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s portrayal of John Winchester. He’s looking forward to providing context. Donnelly said Mary is a badass but has her vulnerable side too. When asked who she is most like, Sam or Dean, she said Mary is Dean, longing to be like Sam. And John is the opposite.
The overall goal of the series will be revealed in episode 13. However, do get too comfortable with the characters. “You should be worried about all of these characters because it is Supernatural,” Thompson said. “I’ll kill them all.” But Thompson is not the big bad. He said there are 327 episodes of Supernatural they can use for continuity. They felt like they could do something new with the big bad without ignoring the 327 episodes. As for that big bad, Thompson says it’s something never seen before, but very much in the vibe of Supernatural’s history and lore.
Jensen talked about how The Winchesters will feature a number of “subtle” Easter eggs referencing Supernatural, while still adding to the story and building it. There will be lots of easter eggs in the pilot. Thompson said the crew in New Orleans has been putting in easter eggs throughout the episodes, though they won’t draw the focus from the main story.
Any familiar faces? “We will be bringing a lot of familiar faces,” Thompson said, “But whether or not we see Mr. Misha Collins…” Thompson would love to have Misha back and hopes that everyone will return to the show in some shape or form. Richard Speight Jr, aka Gabriel, aka Loki from Supernatural is in New Orleans directing an episode as they speak. Someone asked if the audience will get see Crowley. Jensen replied “Sure! I’m taking requests all night.” But seriously, he says that if they get to tell more of the story, you will see more familiar faces.
That is all from The Winchesters NYCC 2022 panel. Check out the trailer below.
https://youtu.be/fee2fEjK0cM
The Winchesters series premiere is Tuesday, October 11 on The CW.
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
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