'The Winchesters': Meg Donnelly and Drake Rodger Hope 'Supernatural' Spinoff Will 'Recreate' Impact of Iconic Series (Exclusive)

By Stephen Andrew

The Winchesters debuts Tuesday on The CW, bringing Supernatural fans back into the world of monsters and otherworldly apparitions they've been missing since the series ended in 2020. The new prequel spinoff stars Meg Donnelly and Drake Rodger as young Mary Campbell and John Winchester, respectively, the parents of Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in the original series. The Winchesters will explore the origins of the evil-slaying family, and will hopefully "recreate" the experience that fans felt when watching Supernatural for the first time. 

When asked if the show would be accessible for those who didn't watch Supernatural, Rodger explained that this was part of the plan with The Winchesters. "We had an extensive conversation between Robbie [Thompson, co-executive producer] and Jensen when they were creating the show. They really wanted to have something that new and old fans alike would be able to appreciate. Something with references and Easter eggs from Supernatural for the old fans," he said. "And then also bringing back old characters from the mothership and things like that, that the old fans will be able to appreciate, but also in a way where new fans will be able to understand and have to explain for them."

He then added, "Because that's the goal I think... It's basically to recreate the same fact that Supernatural had. It affected so many people and so many people loved it and appreciated it as we saw yesterday at Supernatural at the Comic Con. And if we could do that for a new audience, that'd be incredible."

Elaborating on the New York Comic Con fan response to the show, Donnelly shared, "It was incredible and it was so overwhelming, as you can tell, because I was screaming all day yesterday, so now I lost my voice. But it was so emotional because we've put such hard work and passion and dedication into these roles and this show because we care about it so much. Not only us but also Jensen, Danneel, Robbie, all the Executive Producers as well."

The pair also got to see, first hand, "the reaction to [fans] watching the pilot," and Donnelly says that "to hear the applause and to know that these super fans that were here to watch the panel said that we did justice to the mothership means everything. That's all we've been nervous about. And so to be reassured, at least with the group that was at Comic Con, it's an indescribable feeling and we're so grateful."

When it comes to what fans can expect weekly from The Winchesters, Roger confirmed that the show will be a "mesh of" monster-of-the-week episodes and an over-arching long-form narrative that runs through the show. "Obviously it's a long story because we have the end already," he said. "We know where we're leading, so that's A storyline. And then we have through-line monsters. We have in the first season, as anyone who's seen the pilot will see, there is our monster who... This is our season one monster for sure. Maybe season two, who knows? But we are definitely doing the monster the week just because that's so much fun and I think it's such a fun way to keep people entertained and interested in the show."

Finally, the pair discussed what it was like to film a series set in the early '70s, and they made it clear they love it. "Oh, it's so much fun going on set every day," Donnelly said. "The costumes, the hair, the makeup. Also, the cool part about the show, not only monster of the week, but every episode pretty much, almost every episode so far, we've done undercover work so we get to wear disguises. It's like going into different parts of that era and wearing different costumes. It's so much fun. 

She continued, "And the music. The music is awesome. Being in the '70s. And it's also really cool because we don't have technology either and the only technology we really have are pay phones. What other technology do we have? That's pretty much it."

After joking with Rodger a little about early '70s technology, Donnelly added, "But we have law books that are this thick and we go to libraries and we also really have to trust each other because we're like, 'Okay, we're doing this hunt so you have to be there at this time. And we have to really rely because we can't text each other.' It's stressed." 

Rodger then quipped, "I love your '70s references. We went to libraries. 'I don't know if you've been to this place you go into and they have books everywhere.'" Donnelly laughed and clarified that this is how their characters have to "research" about the monsters they're fighting, whereas in Supernatural "they used computers."

Speaking to her point, Rodger added, "The thing, too, is back in the '70s, and fans of Supernatural know this, eventually we figure out how to kill demons. But in the '70s it's impossible. These are big bad guys. They actually carry weight to them. And when there's a demon in a room, it's a serious thing, which is cool." The Winchesters premiered tonight and will air weekly on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

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