Summary

• Reviving Supernatural for Season 16 is risky & unnecessary - cast moved on to other successful projects.
• The original show had a well-crafted ending after 15 years - pushing for more could damage its reputation.
• The Supernatural franchise could thrive with successful spin-offs - but season 16 is not the answer.

Supernatural enjoyed a spectacular 15-season run, but bringing the show back for season 16 would be a mistake. Supernatural was one of the biggest hit shows to ever come out of The CW. The show began in 2005, when it introduced Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, as a pair of monster hunting brothers who had been trained to see the supernatural world where most other people would fail to notice.

The show exploded in popularity, and even after the original series creator, Eric Kripke, departed the project after season 5, the show continued to be renewed. It was forced to change at times, with new characters being added, as well as new supernatural threats that extended as far as heaven, hell and beyond, but it continued to succeed thanks to the Winchester boys and their evolving relationship. In 2020, the show finally came to an end, and said goodbye to the stars of the show.

10 Supernatural Season 16 Would Struggle To Find A Stronger Villain Than God

God Already Won: Can Season 16 Top the Ultimate Threat?

However, bringing the show back is not necessarily a good idea. Sure, Sam and Dean are beloved heroes, and the series was popular, but reviving a series that has been off the air for almost five years is no small task. In order to bring the Winchesters back, there would need to be an incredible threat, or some inciting incident to kickstart season 16.

Sam and Dean had faced and overcome almost every threat in the hunter's handbook, and several more that went beyond every hunter's wildest imagination.

While that may sound achievable, the reality is that Supernatural was beginning to run out of steam by the end of the show. Sam and Dean had faced and overcome almost every threat in the hunter's handbook, and several more that went beyond every hunter's wildest imagination. For instance, God himself, disguised as a man named Chuck, was one of the primary antagonists in the later seasons of the show. Good luck finding a bigger, more powerful force for future stories when God was already on the roster.

9 Jared Padalecki & Jensen Ackles' Recent Successes Prove They Don't Need Supernatural

Winchester Winners: Padalecki & Ackles Have Moved On

Even in spite of getting a strong villain for a new story, Supernatural season 16 would not be right without Sam and Dean. The issue is, while both actors, Padalecki and Ackles, love the role and may even be open to coming back, they do not need Supernatural. Some actors plateau with a project that defines their career, and they struggle to ever find another role that will carry them forward. That hasn't been the case for Padalecki and Ackles.

Padalecki was already a notable figure in several TV shows before his stint as Sam. Now, in the wake of the show, he moved on to star and executive produce a new major hit series for The CW, Walker. Jensen has found even more success with his standout role in The Boys as Soldier Boy, and becoming the voice of Batman in DC animated projects. They are not struggling in a way that would push them back to Supernatural.

8 Supernatural Has Already Worked Through Five Showrunners

Can Season 16 Find Stability?

Supernatural is a spectacular show, but there is also no doubt that it was a monumental effort for those involved. Maintaining a high standard, keeping viewers engaged and coming up with new stories for more than 300 episodes meant that the showrunners carried a lot of weight. Eric Kripke left after season 5, and handed the reins over to Sera Gamble, but the show also saw three more showrunners before the series came to an end.

Finding someone to take on that burden, and attempt to build on what has already been established is a huge ask. Alternatively, approaching one of the earlier showrunners and asking them to return may hit a brick wall, because they have likely done what they wanted to with the show and may not feel a need to return. Without a showrunner, there is no show.

7 The Winchester Boys Earned Their Retirement

The Winchesters Deserve Their Peace

But even in-universe, those involved endured an incredibly long and strenuous journey. The series starts with the boys searching for their lost father. They lost their mother as young boys, and episode 1 sees Sam lose his then girlfriend in the same terrifying way. Along the way, they made new friends, but they also lost far more friends in their incredibly dangerous line of work.

Despite being killed themselves, numerous times, Sam and Dean came back from Hell and eternal oblivion in order to save the world. Again, and again, they put everything on the line, and they stopped the worst threats to humanity from succeeding. There was a reason Dean's death came by something so inconsequential as a vampire in the end, and he had Sam promise to let him go. Bringing them back would tarnish their legacy, and threaten their happy ending, and they fought hard to earn some peace at the end of the road.

6 New Shows Have Taken Supernatural's Place

Supernatural's Legacy Lives On

For those die-hard fans who loved Supernatural, loved the actors, and loved the writing, there are half a dozen shows that have come out in recent years to fill that gap. Walker may be a very different crime drama, but Padalecki is front and center. Kripke moved on to bring The Boys to Amazon Prime, and Ackles, and other Supernatural stars, make an appearance there.

Dead Boy Detectives and Wednesday on Netflix are both great examples of the genre.

If the twisted humor is appealing, shows like Resident Alien have been proving incredibly popular. Or, for more supernatural stories, Dead Boy Detectives and Wednesday on Netflix are both great examples of the genre. Supernatural may have created a niche and filled it when it first began, but almost 20 years after the show first aired, there are plenty of other stories available to fill that gap.

5 Season 16 Would Risk Ruining Supernatural's Reputation

Season 16 Could Tarnish a Beloved Ending

However, it's important to acknowledge the legacy and the miracle that was Supernatural's 15-year-season run. In the new era of streaming, many shows don't make it beyond their first or second season. Yes, the quality of the series varied and there were seasons that felt considerably less well planned out than others, but 15 seasons is a remarkable achievement.

Pushing to have even more could actually damage the reputation and the quality of the series overall. Not only are the actors a little older and somewhat distanced from the characters that they played for 15 years, but the show had an ending. Pushing for more may seem greedy, or desperate on the part of the network, and ultimately leave viewers with a bad taste in their mouth after the show had already provided a conclusion.

4 Every Story Needs An Ending, Supernatural Has A Pretty Good One

Supernatural Doesn't Need Another Chapter

The final moments of the Supernatural finale may have been somewhat divisive among fans, but what series finale isn't? The show ended on its own , and tried to give the Winchesters a send-off that made sense. While some questions lingered after the show faded to black for the last time, for the most part, things were resolved.

Heaven was remade as a peaceful paradise. Dean met up with Bob. Castiel is resurrected by Jack. The Impala found its way to heaven and Dean enjoyed cruising the afterlife. Sam lived a full life, with a partner, and a child who he got to see grow to become a man. Bringing the show back for another season would have to find a way to creatively deal with this ending and work around it, but it may not be worth rewriting the ending just to push for another final season that could end up going nowhere.

3 The Winchesters Cancelation Indicates A Lack Of Interest

Winchesters Unwanted?

The CW has already tried to expand the franchise with a spin-off in the form of the prequel show, The Winchesters. The series followed John Winchester and Mary Campbell when they first met and began hunting together. However, the series was canceled after just one season. This doesn't necessarily mean that the show was bad, it had a lot worth praising, but 15 years of Supernatural may have drained interest for a story about hunters.

The spin-off also suffered from a lack of stakes, due to its prequel nature, but it tried to remedy this with Dean and Jack showing up and rewriting the timelines. Despite this, the series still fell short, and ended up with a cancelation. Bringing the original show may drum up some intrigue, but it's possible that people are done with the show after so many years.

2 The Show Was Designed To Have An Ending

Designed Conclusion: Built-In Ending Limits Season 16's Potential

Supernatural was always designed to have a conclusion. Kripke famously left the show in season 5, after the portion of the story he wanted to tell was finished, and he felt the series could come to a natural end. Kripke has since further emphasized his belief that shows should have definitive endings with the announcement that The Boys season 5 will be the final season. Many shows benefit from this definitive structure.

The show had to come to an end.

Rather than dragging out the story and grasping for some fresh inspiration, a show can finish strong when the intended idea is fully realized. There are exceptions, such as shows like Doctor Who, or soap operas that are intended to last forever, and they feature specific elements to facilitate this. However, Supernatural does not have some gimmick that makes it a never ending story. The show had to come to an end.

1 There Could Still Be Successful Supernatural Spin-Offs In The Future

Fresh Blood, Familiar World: Spin-Offs Can Expand the Universe

While The Winchesters did not generate the excitement or viewing figures that The CW may have wanted, that doesn't mean the Supernatural franchise has to stay dead. Several shows have seen great success with a revival or spin-off that comes out years after the original story ends. There are also numerous ways that the Supernatural universe could expand, with new characters and ideas.

Some shows that try to launch a spin-off on the back of their successful show have proven how much of a mistake this can be. Scrubs, for example, tacked on season 9 after saying goodbye to the main character, and the final season was a jarring attempt to launch a spin-off with new characters. Supernatural could have a future in spin-offs, but it shouldn't try to set this up in a tacked on season 16.