The season finale of Supernatural was delayed as a result of the pandemic, but most fans of the long-running CW series would agree that it was worth the wait. The decision to kill Dean Winchester and have him reunite with his brother Sam decades later in Heaven proved divisive, but after COVID-19 forced the show to scale down its original plans, it was still a touching conclusion.
Recently, Jensen Ackles spoke to Michael Rosenbaum on his Inside Of You podcast (via Screen Rant) about ending the show, and admitted to being initially unsure about the finale.
"I don't think there's a wrong opinion about it, I think the people that had problems with it are validated and the people that enjoyed it are validated. I was in both camps, I spent time in both camps," Ackles admitted, saying he and Jared Padalecki flew to Los Angeles for the writers to pitch their planned ending (a first for the on-screen brothers). "My initial reaction was, 'I don't like this.' I didn't [say it right out], I was trying to be respectful, so I said, 'Hmm, okay.'"
Adding that he then slept on it for a week or so, Ackles says a conversation with his wife led to him realising he needed to speak to someone outside of the show as he imagined "if someone was going to go, it'd be Sam, as kind of the martyr and Dean would then be left to kind of stumble through the rest of his life, mourning his brother and the rest of his family and it would be a sad existence, but that was how it'd happen, or we'd both go, like a Butch and Sundance kind of thing."
After speaking to the show's original creator, Eric Kripke, Ackles waited to hear back. "He ended up sending me this incredibly well-written email explaining why he thought this was a great ending and it just put things in perspective for me and from then on, I was onboard," the actor recalled. "I'm sure I could've done that, I'm sure I could've called Bob or called Andrew, who was showrunner at that time, and probably had a similar conversation, but I just wanted somebody from an outsider's perspective, a different viewpoint, to help me process that."
It's fascinating to hear from Ackles on Supernatural's ending, and we know that he's keen to return to the franchise as a prequel series revolving around John and Mary Winchester is in the works with him potentially producing and narrating. Padalecki is also expected to be involved in some capacity, though it's been a while since we've heard anything about those plans at The CW.
As always, keep checking back here for updates as we have them.