Next season, Supernatural will once again be blending their titular genre with the show's signature brand of humor by airing an animated homage to Scooby Doo. Over the years, Supernatural has made a name for itself not only as a show focused on adventure and the paranormal, but one willing to take bizarre narrative detours and experiment with the structure of the show. What started as a series following two brothers on a road trip across the U.S., hunting and killing urban legends, has evolved into a self-aware satire of the entire genre within which it exists.

It's fitting, actually, that a show whose premise was built on the idea that stories were real has added metatextual layers of its own over the years, pulling back the curtain and blurring the lines of what's real. Early on, the Winchesters faced off against Loki, the Norse god of mischief and stories, and were flung into a world of TV shows. Since then, they've had a number of strange adventures, from realizing they were characters in someone else's fan-fiction (referencing the show's intense following) to being transported to a world where they were actors on a show. The show even did an entire episode told from the point-of-view of their car. Now, they'll be joining forces with another famous group of monsters hunters.

During the upfronts for The CW, it was announced that Supernatural will be airing an animated episode next season where Dean and Sam work alongside the characters from Scooby Doo. Thanks to Michael Schneider, we even have our first look at the brothers in their new medium.

While Supernatural is not really kid-friendly, given its bloody action and Dean's frequent slandering of women, the tones will fit together nicely. The show has gone fairly cartoonish in the past during its recurring comedic episodes, so making the Winchesters animated makes sense. And though the two series may not seem similar, they do both involve a group of characters traveling the country in a signature vehicle, helping locals and fighting monsters. The Scooby Squad generally encounter fake ghouls and goblins, but their many movies and spinoffs have feature plenty of real supernatural beings.

There's no other details on the episode, but expect them to come soon. Supernatural will be ending its 12th season tonight, and its renewal came as no surprise given the show's dedicated fanbase and steady performance over the years. It's also always been a show well-versed in pop culture (despite both main characters never seeming to watch TV or movies). In the past, it's had Easter eggs for The Walking Dead, introduced characters that would be at home on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the show may soon be joined by more spooky characters on The CW in the form of Riverdale. Hopefully, the Scooby Doo episode is just the beginning for the show and more crossovers will follow.

NEXT: Arrow Joining Supernatural on Thursday Nights This Fall

The season finale of Supernatural airs tonight, May 18th, at 8 pm on The CW.

Source: Michael Schneider