There aren’t many TV fandoms quite as steadfast as #SPNFamily, which is filled with those who are probably still feeling some pain over the loss of the hit CW series, Supernatural, nearly two years after it left the airwaves with 15 seasons. But, there is hope that the adventures of the Winchester family will be able to start up once more, as the pilot order for the prequel, The Winchesters, got everyone pumped. Now, Supernatural stars Richard Speight Jr. and Rob Benedict have shared hopes for their characters appearing on the Jensen Ackles-produced spinoff, even if it doesn’t show up on the 2022 TV schedule.
What Richard Speight Jr. And Rob Benedict Said About Their Characters And The Winchesters
Even if you didn’t manage to keep up with one of the best CW shows, Supernatural, through the end of Season 15, you likely know that the series had quite a stable of characters who came and went, usually several times, during its long run. Two of those very recognizable and important characters were played by Richard Speight Jr. and Rob Benedict, who portrayed the archangel Gabriel and Chuck / God / Chuck (I’ll explain that in a bit), respectively. Both were asked by Entertainment Weekly about whether or not fans might see Gabriel and Chuck again, should that pilot get a series order, and they said:
Speight Jr: Not only are we interested, but we expect it. We are personal friends with [writer] Robbie Thompson and [producers] Jensen and Danneel Ackles and gosh darnit, if I turn on the show and there's some other jackhole playing Gabriel, there's gonna be hell to pay. [Laughs.] Benedict: I think demanding it is maybe too strong, but yes, expecting it, hoping. We're excited about the show and we're excited about the possibility.
With The Winchesters rolling right along to get its pilot produced (the new John and Mary Winchester were recently cast), and there being several stars who could return, it makes sense that Speight Jr. and Benedict would both be eager to reprise their roles if the prequel becomes a full blown series. And, with this taking place way before the events of Supernatural (following Mary and John before Sam and Dean Winchester came along) and both actors having portrayed, ahem, supernatural beings, there’s really no reason why that couldn’t happen.
If you watched the early days of Supernatural, you know that Speight Jr. first showed up as Loki, but was eventually revealed to be Gabriel simply posing as the Norse trickster god, in order to avoid some heated fights between his brothers, Michael and Lucifer. While ol’ Gabe went through a lot over the course of the show, we could easily see him during his time as Loki, where he would, hopefully, remove some douchebags from Mary and John’s path so that they could get down to some slightly easier monster hunting.
Meanwhile, Benedict took on the early role of the prophet Chuck, who wrote some awesome books based on Sam and Dean’s work ridding the world of vampires, demons, ghosts, and such. But, this was actually another ruse by a powerful creature, as Chuck was really just God in disguise. The last time we saw him, his power had been taken by Jack, who’d become the new God, so he was now a truly mortal Chuck once more. Seeing as how God can, clearly, be anything or anyone at any time, The Winchesters could easily have Benedict show up.
If The Winchesters goes to series, it will be the first proposed Supernatural spinoff to succeed on that front, with two previous attempts getting backdoor pilots and nothing else. And, while both Rob Benedict and Richard Speight Jr. have hopes that they can bring Gabriel and some form of Chuck / God back to television, Speight Jr. noted that, overall, The Winchesters might have the best chance of survival when it comes to spinoffs from the Supernatural mothership:
I love that the universe is continuing, it's cool. I think they're doing it in a very clever way. Obviously, we know the show had a couple of failed spin-offs, I think this is a really creative way to tell the story using characters people already know and love. I was so excited when Jensen brought in Robbie Thompson to write the script, just a great writer.
Pretty much every Supernatural fan is excited about maybe having The Winchesters to enjoy weekly, so we’ll just have to hope that our dreams come true.
