Filming of Supernatural season 8 may have just begun, but new showrunner Jeremy Carver is already looking beyond the Winchesters' upcoming adventures - how far? Season 10, to be exact.
Speaking with Carver at Comic-Con 2012, the former Supernatural writer and Being Human (Syfy) showrunner appears to have returned to his former series with a drive to keep evil at bay, at least for a few more years. Taking note from Supernatural series creator Eric Kripke’s original intent for a 5-year arc , Carver revealed his overall plan of plotting out a story that will help him at least reach his goal of “the end of season 10” – a plan that begins this year, in season 8.
Here’s what Carver had to say about the future of Supernatural:
We really are building some foundation for a storyline that can carry us on for at least a few more years. There’s a note card in my office that says “The end of season 10” right there.
I have that note card; that note card exists in fantasy right now. I don’t know if there’s going to be a season 10 but, you know, that’s what keeps me getting up in the morning.
For fans of Supernatural, hearing goals of season 10 will certainly bring a smile to your face. Of course, those same fans also know that there are two people who could prevent that from happening more so than CW and/or Warner Bros.: Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.
Looking to follow the same ten-season path that previous CW hit Smallville took, there’s no doubt that Ackles and Padalecki are asking themselves the same career questions that Tom Welling once had to answer. With Supernatural season 7 leaving much to be desired, and their contracts up at end of this season, it may be the Winchester brothers themselves who bring about an end to Sam and Dean.
However, with the return of Jeremy Carver as showrunner, who Eric Kripke told us was “one of [Supernatural’s] best writers,” there’s no doubt that the (US) Being Human co-creator knows how to craft compelling tale for an actor to grab hold of.
Reflecting on the actors’ challenges in such a long-running series, Carver describes his approach in making sure everyone remains on board until the end:
These guys have played their roles in every which way, right? You want to give them challenging, human, fun scenes.
The first rule is: You want to write parts that every actor would love to play. Hopefully that goes for the leads as well as the guest roles we have coming in. I think they are obviously more than savvy to recognize a good story is a good story and they’ll get on board.
How good is the Supernatural season 8 story? For now, we’ll have to wait and see. But for all intents and purposes, hopes are high – and deservedly so. Looking at the series through pure statistics alone, Supernatural has gone above and beyond what any fan could hope from a series.
An eighth year on the air is its own television miracle, and Supernatural’s run has largely been nothing but exceptional storytelling. Though there have been a few missteps in recent years, all it takes is but a slight tweak for the series to completely right itself, allowing the Winchesters' to continue their battle against evil for at least a few more years (hopefully longer).
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Supernatural season 8 premieres Wednesday, October 3 @9pm on CW
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