Supernaturalalready has at least one easy way to return for another season without retconning the original ending. Centering on brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester as they travel the country hunting monsters,Supernaturaldeveloped a passionate fan base who continue to support the show and its cast.Supernaturalran for an impressive fifteen seasons, finally coming to an end in 2020 with a definitive, if divisive, conclusion. Almost immediately afterSupernatural’scontroversial series finale, fans began speculating about whether the show could ever return.
TheSupernaturalseries finale saw Dean killed while on a hunt, leaving Sam to live out the rest of his life, before the two brothers reconnected in Heaven.While theSupernaturalspinoff,The Winchesters,altered Dean’s ending a bit,the way the original story ended doesn’t leave much room for a potential sixteenth season. Still,Supernaturalestablished a multiverseof different realities where anything is possible, leaving options open for a continuation. But there’s another option for a potentialSupernaturalreturn that wouldn’t involve rewriting the original ending.
Supernatural Season 16 Can’t Happen Without Retconning The Show’s Original Ending
A Continuation Of Supernatural’s Story Would Have To Find A Way To Resurrect Dean Winchester
After Sam and Dean defeated God (Rob Benedict) himself in season 15’s penultimate episode,the series finale saw them go on one final hunt.While taking out a vampire nest initially appeared to be a routine job, Dean was fatally impaled on a spike during the fight. A devastated Sam then gave his brother a hunter’s funeral and found a way to continue living his life. While some viewers felt Dean was always destined to die on a hunt, others felt it was an abrupt, lackluster, and even cruel ending for a character who had already suffered so much.
In the end, Sam and Dean reunited in Heaven, where time moves differently. At some point before Sam’s death,Dean helped save the multiverse as seen in thefinale ofThe Winchesters.While this opens the door for Dean to return as an angel of sorts,theSupernaturalseason 15 finale makes season 16 more complicated.To truly bring the Winchesters back together for more hunting adventures, season 16 would have to retcon the show’s original ending. While there are ways to undo Dean’s death that could work, a futureSupernaturalproject could also take a different route.
Supernatural Can Come Back Without Changing Season 15’s Finale – By Adapting The Books
The Supernatural Novels Tell Mostly Standalone Monster-Hunting Adventures
DespiteDean Winchester’s death, there are other waysSupernaturalcould return without undoing the original series finale. A futureSupernaturalseason or seasons could adapt some of the seventeen non-canonical novels that have been written about the Winchester brothers. Beginning withNevermoreby Keith R.A. DeCandido,these novels are standalone adventures depicting monster huntsthat take place throughout the show’s run. The events ofNevermoretake place during the show’s second season, while the events of the final book,Children of Anubisby Tim Waggoner, occur during season 12.
From serial killers to ghosts to demons,theSupernaturalnovels feature an array of monsters and villainsthat would be perfect for an adaptation. While a few of the novels feature direct connections or references to the events of the show, others could easily be adapted to occur anytime duringSupernatural’srun. Some of the novels also feature other characters from Sam and Dean’s life, including Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver), Castiel (Misha Collins), Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino), and Garth (DJ Qualls), and it would be great to see some of these characters return onscreen.
How A Supernatural Return Based On The Novels Could Work
The Novels Could Serve As The Basis For A Supernatural Anthology Series
By the timeSupernaturalcame to a close, Sam and Dean had faced off against Lucifer, God, and everything in between. They had saved the world several times over and had literally been to Hell and back. It would be difficult to raise the stakes much higher than that, butaSupernaturalseason based on the novels could bring the show back to the basics.In its earliest seasons,Supernaturalfocused on monster-of-the-week episodesin which Sam and Dean traveled to a new town and did what they do best – saved people and hunted things.
An anthology-typeSupernaturalseason inspired by the novels would allow other beloved characters to return, even if they had been killed off during the show’s run.
Every season ofSupernaturalincluded some of these standalone monster hunt episodes, and they were often some of the show’s best. While the intense season-long story arcs were always entertaining (and often heartbreaking),Supernaturaldeveloped a near-perfect formula for its standalone episodes.A season based on the novels would allow the show to deliver miniature horror movies each week, while focusing on the dynamic between Sam and Dean. While it might be necessary to move the stories around or change some details, theSupernaturalnovels could provide an excellent starting point for a future continuation of the show.
There’s One Challenge To Bringing The Spinoff Novels To Life On-Screen
Jared Padalecki & Jensen Ackles Aren’t Getting Any Younger
The main complication with adapting theSupernaturalnovels is that Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles have, of course, continued to age. While they have certainly aged well,they can no longer pass for the Sam and Dean Winchester ofSupernatural’searliest seasons.This would require the show to set the stories laterduringSupernatural’stimeline, but it also means the series would have to return sooner rather than later. As the actors continue to noticeably age, it becomes more difficult to set a series during the original show’s run.
It’s impossible to imagine any futureSupernaturalstories with anyone other than Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles portraying Sam and Dean. If anotherSupernaturalseason or mini-series ever does happen, the creative minds behind it will have to find a way to make it work with Jared and Jensen, and potentially Misha Collins, as well. With multiple universes, angelic and demonic powers, and time travel shenanigans, there are numerous waysSupernaturalcould return with both Sam and Dean Winchester, and the novels could provide a perfect blueprint for more monster-hunting stories.
