Jensen Ackles admits he didn't like the Supernatural ending when he was first pitched it by the writers and talks who helped him appreciate it. Created by Eric Kripke, the dark fantasy drama centered on brothers Sam and Dean Winchester as they travel around America hunting down demons, ghosts, monsters and other paranormal beings. The duo also find themselves frequently wrapped up in battles to save the world from the forces of Heaven and Hell as their war spills out into the Earth.
Jensen Ackles and Jared Padelecki lead the cast of Supernatural as Dean and Sam with other recurring and main stars including Misha Collins as their angel ally Castiel, Mark A. Shepherd as their on-again-off-again demon ally Crowley, Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer, Jim Beaver as hunter mentor Bobby and Ruth Connell as occasionally antagonistic witch Rowena. The series proved to be a hit for both The WB and The CW, running for 15 generally well-received seasons, with various showrunners coming and going after Kripke departed following wrapping his planned story with season 5. Supernatural would finally come to a close with season 15 in late 2020 and while reception was largely positive for the final chapter, there was one element that left many divided.
While making an appearance on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside Of You podcast, Jensen Ackles opened up about his time on the hit series Supernatural. When asked about the show's divisive series finale, Ackles revealed he initially didn't like the ending when it was first pitched to him and recalls having to turn to creator Eric Kripke for an outsider's perspective given he had departed the series a decade prior. See what Ackles said below:
"I don't think there's a wrong opinion about it, I think the people that had problems with it are validated and the people that enjoyed it are validated. I was in both camps, I spent time in both camps. This is no secret, the very first time we had ever heard what was going to happen at the end of the season, Jared and I flew out to LA and we went to the writers room before the season started and we all sat down and they essentially pitched us how they wanted to wrap up the show, which was the first time in Supernatural history that had ever happened. My initial reaction was, 'I don't like this.' I didn't [say it right out], I was trying to be respectful, so I said, 'Hmm, okay.'
I didn't give them an overwhelming response, I was just like, 'Okay. I'm going to sleep on it, because this is a big thing.' So I slept on it and about a week went by and I went to my wife and was like, 'I'm really bumming on this, it's just not.' She was like, 'Is it because Dean dies?' I was like, 'Maybe, maybe I'm just too close to that character and I just don't want to see him go.' For some reason, I always thought that if someone was going to go, it'd be Sam, as kind of the martyr and Dean would then be left to kind of stumble through the rest of his life, mourning his brother and the rest of his family and it would be a sad existence, but that was how it'd happen, or we'd both go, like a Butch and Sundance kind of thing.
But me going and him continuing on, it just didn't sit well with me. So my wife, in all her infinite wisdom, said, 'You should talk to somebody outside of this that understands the world' and that was Eric Kripke, who created the world and created the characters and had been gone since season 5, had left after season 5, so he's been gone for 10 years, but he still knew the show. So I called him and he had not heard what they were planning, so I told him and he did the same thing I did, he was like, 'Let me sleep on this, let me just try and get some clarity on this and I'll call you tomorrow.'
So he ended up sending me this incredibly well-written email explaining why he thought this was a great ending and it just put things in perspective for me and from then on, I was onboard. I'm sure I could've done that, I'm sure I could've called Bob or called Andrew, who was showrunner at that time, and probably had a similar conversation, but I just wanted somebody from an outsider's perspective, a different viewpoint, to help me process that."
The Supernatural series finale divided many upon its premiere in November 2020 due to the episode's decision to kill of Ackles' Dean early in the episode following a seemingly simple injury from fighting a vampire nest. Some audiences felt the death to be too easy or unworthy of the character, given the many methods of death he suffered throughout the run of the show, while others acknowledged its importance to progress both his and Sam's story. Despite the divide, most fans would ultimately agree the Supernatural finale was a satisfactory and emotional conclusion to the long-running series.
As Ackles mentions in the interview, it's not the first time he's expressed his initial uncertainty for the Supernatural ending, but his journey of reaching out to others to help him process the decision is an interesting one to hear. It should be further enticing for fans of the series to learn of the star turning towards Eric Kripke for his perspective on the ending and that it ultimately worked to convince him of the finale's strengths. Audiences can look forward to Ackles and Kripke reuniting as he appears as Soldier Boy in The Boys season 3 set to premiere on June 3.