Posted in: CW, streaming, TV | Tagged: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Supernatural
Supernatural Return Should Be Similar to Gilmore Girls: Padalecki
During Tommy DiDario’s I’ve Never Said This Before podcast, Jared Padalecki discussed how he would like to see a Supernatural return handled.
If you didn't get a chance to check out Supernatural and Walker star Jared Padalecki opening up about a mental health crisis he suffered in 2015 and how he's been dealing with his CW series ending during this week's edition of Tommy DiDario's I've Never Said This Before podcast, it's definitely worth checking out for its openness and honesty. Over the course of the hour, DiDario, Padalecki, and his wife & actress Genevieve Padalecki cover a wide range of other topics, including – yes – if there's going to be a Supernatural reunion happening with Jensen Ackles. Good news? Padalecki said that he and Ackles are still within their initial five-year cooling-off time but that the interest is still there and that it continues to feel more like "when" than "if." That said, Padalecki also makes it clear that they're not looking for another run like the original series.
In the clip below, Padalecki explains how they're not looking for another 15-year-run – or even a 5-year-run – but would like to handle their return the same way his other series, Gilmore Girls, handled it. Essentially, a restart/sequel series (not a reboot) that would continue things from the original universe – but more of a contained story with a limited number of episodes. From there, Genevieve discusses how the show's longevity is impressive and how the fans are as interested in these characters and this universe as much now as ever before:
Supernatural: Jared Padalecki's Previous Thoughts on Returning
"It's not that I haven't seriously considered doing it; my single answer is yes. It's timing. It's availability," Padalecki shared during an interview with Collider from back in April, in support of the return of CW's Walker for a fourth season. "Jensen [Ackles] and I feel so strongly about our show that we had for 15 years together that we don't wanna just do it, just to do it. We don't wanna go, 'Hey, I have two weeks off in June. Let's go ahead and shoot 10 pages a day – just so we can have some more content.' If and when 'Supernatural' comes back, it's going to be a labor of love, and we're gonna put every hour in to make sure that it's as true to the canon and to the fandom and to the story and to the characters as possible," Padalecki added. "So, my short answer is it's not a consideration; the answer is yes. I just don't know when I'm available. I don't know when he's available. But again, my answer is yes."
As for what form that return would take – series/limited series, film, etc. – Padalecki doesn't have a preference. For him, it's all about the story. "Honest to God, I don't think about the medium in which it would air. I think about the story that I care about. If Jensen and I talk about where we would like to see Sam and Dean appear on screens again, and we think, 'Cool, we like this, and we like this arc, and we like this conclusion,' then let's do it. If they make it into a movie, great. If they make it into a limited series, great. If they make it into a flip book that's available on Amazon, great," Padalecki explained. "But at this point in time, I feel so protective of 'Supernatural' that if the story's fine, then I don't care how it gets into the world."
"You know, Jensen [Ackles] and I asked for 13-episode seasons of 'Supernatural' many, many, many times. As a matter of fact, I feel like if we had done 13-episode seasons of 'Supernatural,' we'd probably still be doing 'Supernatural' right now. Because it's hard to do a long network season while also trying to be a husband and a father, and a friend," Padalecki shared during an interview with TV Insider. "I think Jim Beaver, at one of our Comic-Con panels, said about 22 or 23-episode seasons, 'You know, even if it's the best batter on the planet, if Ted Williams goes to bat 23 times, he's gonna strike out a few times.' And so I think a shortened season would just be a really strong, action-packed, story-packed season where we don't have to do an episode like 'Bugs' in Season 1 of 'Supernatural' [Laughs]," he added.
Back in May 2022, Padalecki spoke with Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) during a visit to Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, where he discussed the future of Supernatural and how things were between him and Ackles after their major miscommunication over The Winchesters. In the clip above, Padalecki makes it clear that "the book is not closed" on the future of Supernatural– and that was aside from the prequel series. In fact, he puts it out there that if a "new book" were to happen, he would be "excited" to help bring it to life. From there, Rosenbaum asks him how things are between the SPN stars & friends after last year's announcement of the spinoff series brought some tension to social media light. Admitting that it was more "laugh/cry" when it came to how they cleared the air, Padalecki sees the incident as a "hardship" that actually strengthened their overall bond. "No one believes in Jensen [Ackles] more than I do," Padalecki says near the end of the clip- which you can check out above.