‘The Winchesters’: Jared Padalecki Might Not Appear in Season 1
Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki had an impressive 15-season run playing brothers Dean and Sam Winchester on The CW’s mystery-drama sensation Supernatural. After the series finale aired in November 2020, many fans assumed the show had reached its end once and for all. But to their surprise, the Supernatural universe was resurrected when a prequel spinoff series titled The Winchesters was announced in June 2021.
The Winchesters is set to arrive on The CW this fall. It’s the brainchild of Ackles and his wife, Danneel, who both serve as executive producers on the show. But shockingly, Supernatural’s other big star, Padalecki, might not appear in season 1 of the prequel series — if at all.
Who did Jared Padalecki play on ‘Supernatural’?
Padalecki played the character Sam on Supernatural alongside Ackles, who played his older brother, Dean. The pair seem to share a close bond both on and off screen.
On the show, Sam is forced to abandon his dreams of pursuing a career in law when his college girlfriend, Jessica (Adrianne Palicki), is killed by a demon. His father, John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), raised Sam and Dean in the hunting life after their mother was also murdered by a supernatural entity. But unlike Dean, Sam was reluctant to follow in his father’s footsteps. He hesitantly joins Dean on the road to avenge Jessica.
Over the course of the show, Sam and Dean learn to reconcile their differences while fighting against monsters, angels, and even gods for the greater good. Sam eventually gets his happy ending in the Supernatural series finale. It’s revealed he was able to start a family and grow old before reuniting with Dean in heaven.
The ‘Walker’ actor found out about ‘The Winchesters’ from Twitter
Padalecki made headlines last year after he took to social media to congratulate his former co-star following the announcement of The Winchesters.
According to Deadline, the new series will follow the “epic, untold love story of how John met Mary and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.” Narrator Dean, played once again by Ackles, will tell the story. But the announcement said nothing of Sam’s part on the show.
Padalecki raised eyebrows after he revealed he had “no involvement” in the making of the spinoff series.
He responded to Ackles’ post on Twitter: “Dude. Happy for you. Wish I heard about this some way other than Twitter. I’m excited to watch, but bummed that Sam Winchester had no involvement whatsoever.” He added “I’m gutted” in a follow-up tweet.
Once the dust had settled on their Twitter back-and-forth, Padalecki then returned to the social media platform to clear up any drama between him and Ackles.
“[Ackles] and I had a great talk, as we do often, and things are good,” he wrote. “We’ve traveled a lot of roads together, and sometimes those damn roads have bumps. Bumps don’t stop us. Once brothers, always brothers.”
Ackles also chimed in, writing: “Love you [Padalecki] … Miss these talks. I forgot how much face time we always used to get. And I miss that too. I know you’re busy…as am I, but you’re still my brother. I miss you, pal.”
It’s likely Jared Padalecki won’t appear in season 1 of ‘The Winchesters’
Since his and Ackles’ initial Twitter feud, it seems Padalecki has given his blessing to The Winchesters. But his involvement in the project likely hasn’t changed.
Based on what’s known about the new series so far, Sam likely won’t be a part of the story. With younger versions of Mary and John (played by Meg Donnelly and Drake Rodger, respectively) set to take center stage on The Winchesters, it would be hard to place Sam in the story outside of the role of omniscient narrator — which, in this case, is already taken by Dean.
Padalecki’s overlapping work commitments might also pose a challenge to his hypothetical role on the prequel. Padalecki is currently busy working on fellow CW show Walker, which debuts its third season this fall, per Screen Rant. Because Padalecki plays the titular character on the show, it could be difficult for him to juggle another project.
Of course, Ackles and Padalecki’s social media drama happened early on in production for The Winchesters. That means there’s a slight chance writers could’ve tweaked the script to allow for Sam’s involvement. Either way, there’s potential for Padalecki to return to the Supernatural universe down the line if The Winchesters gets picked up for a season 2.
