Jared Padalecki Calls Out Jensen Ackles Over Supernatural Spinoff

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, on-screen brothers and stars of the hit series Supernatural, have beef. Photo-illustration by Observer; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The CW Network

Of all things that keep a brotherly bond together, 15 seasons of chasing demons, ghosts and more is not guaranteed to be one of them.

Although the finale to the beloved series Supernatural aired just last fall, The CW has already announced a spinoff series titled The Winchesters. Don’t be fooled by the name, though; only one of the original stars even received an invite to be a part of the spinoff. The new series will be told from the point of view of narrator, Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles). His brother Sam, played by Supernatural co-star Jared Padalecki, will seemingly not be included. 

The snub prompted Padalecki to take to Twitter upon hearing the news that his character would not be taking part in the spinoff. 

Dude. Happy for you.
Wish I heard about this some way other than Twitter.
I’m excited to watch, but bummed that Sam Winchester had no involvement whatsoever. https://t.co/bAcEvFKM7p

— Jared Padalecki (@jarpad) June 25, 2021

“Dude. Happy for you. Wish I heard about this someway [sic] other than Twitter,” Padalecki tweeted to his former co-star on Thursday night. “I’m excited to watch, but bummed that Sam Winchester had no involvement whatsoever.”

Padalecki’s initial tweet surprised fans. Wouldn’t Sam Winchester at least be notified for casting in a spinoff about his parents? Many of his 2.9 million followers were quick to question the legitimacy of Padalecki’s claim, asking if it was a joke. He tweeted back: “No. It’s not. This is the first I’m hearing about it. I’m gutted.”

The Winchesters will apparently tell of how the Winchester parents met, and the monster-riddled love story that ensued. Ackles has maintained his idea that Dean would be the character to properly tell the story of their parents’ backgrounds, and how the Winchester brothers later came to be. He and his wife, Daneel Ackles, launched their company, Chaos Machine Productions, last fall, already with an ode to Supernatural in mind. Robbie Thompson, previously a writer and producer for Supernatural, is joining the team as an executive producer for The Winchesters.

😅 pic.twitter.com/J3DgwtucHX

— 1 called Kate-ers (@heelcassidy_) June 25, 2021

Ackles told Deadline, “I always felt like my character, Dean, would have wanted to know more about his parents’ relationship and how it came to be.”

As the situation continued to escalate Thursday night, Padalecki also tweeted at Thompson. 

“What a truly awful thing you’ve done. #Bravo, you coward,” Padalecki said, in a since-deleted tweet.

Though Thompson didn’t necessarily commit as heinous a crime as Padalecki claims, it is unsurprising that there would be a backlash concerning the absence of Sam Winchester in the spinoff. Supernatural was incredibly popular in its run, capturing 1.4 million viewers for the series finale in 2020.

This morning, Padalecki followed up with a more conciliatory tweet, asking his followers not “send any hate or threats” but did not otherwise retract his statements from last night.

Hey world.
Thank you for the love.
Please PLEASE don’t send any hate or threats.
I care deeply about everybody involved and would be in true misery if any of them were harmed or threatened.

— Jared Padalecki (@jarpad) June 25, 2021