Jared Padalecki says he was “gutted” that he was left out of the loop regarding news about a new Supernatural prequel series The Winchesters. Padalecki played Sam Winchester for 15 seasons on the long-running drama, ever since it first aired on The WB in 2005. Series creator and original showrunner Eric Kripke initially only planned for 3 seasons, later expanding it to 5, which was intended to be the conclusion of the main storyline and the end of Kripke’s tenure as showrunner. The show’s enormous popularity, however, saw it continue for another 10 seasons before ultimately wrapping up with last year’s finale.
While vieweers were saddened to see the series eventually come to an end, Padalecki’s co-star and onscreen brother Jensen Ackles had other plans afoot to keep the saga going. Most recently it was announced that Ackles and his wife Danneel are executive producing a prequel series that will focus on the early experiences of Sam and Dean’s parents, John and Mary. It is also expected that Ackles will reprise his role of Dean Winchester as the prequel series’ narrator.
While Kripke seemed conscious of plans for the prequel, tweeting his congratulations and saying that when Ackles “first told me this story, I loved it”, Padalecki was seemingly caught unaware by the news. When the story broke on social media, Padalecki took to his social media feed to say “Dude. Happy for you. Wish I heard about this some way other than Twitter.” When a fan asked if his response was a joke, Padalecki replied “No. It’s not. This is the first I’ve heard about it. I’m gutted”. You can check out the original Tweets below:
In a deleted tweet (via Pajiba), Padalecki took a shot at producer Robbie Thompson:
Given that Padalecki has spent the last 15 years of his life as a leading figure in the Supernatural franchise, his disappointment is understandable. Though Padalecki is not directly involved in the prequel, as Kripke suggests he “is too busy Texas Rangering”, fans are now wondering why he was not at least made aware of the project before its announcement. Given how enormously busy both actors are with both their own commitments may help explain the oversight, but it has still clearly left a sour taste in Padalecki’s mouth.
This faux par aside, Padalecki doesn’t seem to bear his former co-star any ill will, stating he’s still “excited to watch". In their years working together, the two co-stars have become close friends and Padalecki even originally aimed to have Ackles star as the Texas Ranger Walker in the series reboot that he was putting together. No doubt the two friends and television brothers will figure this issue out, much as family does, and hopefully even entertain the possibility of an on-screen reunion on The Winchesters further down the track.
UPDATE: Padalecki has responded to the outpouring of support on Twitter, thanking fans for their love, but asking them not to send hate or threats to anyone involved in the project.
Source: Jared Padalecki