In an alternate timeline, we'd be just over a month away from the series finale of Supernatural, but unfortunately due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, production on the final two episodes of the long-running series has been halted and the final seven episodes have all been postponed indefinitely.
While it's not entirely clear when fans may get their chance to bid farewell to the Winchesters, Entertainment Weekly was able to get in a proper goodbye last August when they got together with Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins for the stars' final EW cover shoot.
Despite the series often feeling like it could realistically go on forever, talks of a proper ending began at least three seasons ago, but it wasn't until just last year that the longtime co-stars and real-life friends decided season fifteen would be their final ride.
Ackles explains, "[Jared] and I were always married to the fact that we never wanted to go out with a diet version of what we had We wanted to have enough gas left in the tank to get us racing across the finish line. We didn’t want to limp across... It just kind of came together, so Jared and I sat down with Andrew and [co-showrunner] Bob [Singer] and talked about what it could look like and what were the different scenarios, and this one seemed like the best one."
Collins adds, "We were in the end zone, and Andrew gave the rationale of, 'We can stretch this to two or three years or we could go out with one really great final season,' and that sounded like a really good note to end on and I think that's ultimately what Jared and Jensen rallied around."
The twenty-episode fifteenth and final season was formally announced in late March of last year, midway through production on season 14, and while it may have been official from that moment on, it still didn't stop the boys from having their reservations about bringing the series to an end.
"We had that moment where he and I both realized that we didn’t want it to end. It finally got to a point, ironically, where it was like, 'I never want to leave this. I could do this until the day I die, and then if I get the choice when I’m dead, I’ll re-up!' But you never want to be the last person at a party. We just knew. That’s not to say there haven’t been vacillations, but we all trust the decision that was made."
To check out exclusive portraits from their final Entertainment Weekly cover shoot, head over HERE!