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Jensen Ackles calls The Winchesters return a “mixed bag”

Jensen Ackles says that returning to playing Dean in The Winchesters finale was strange, but also comfortable because of how long he played the character.

Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester

Spoilers ahead for The Winchesters season one finale! The Winchesters became more like Supernatural than ever in the season finale, with a twist ending that revealed that this is an alternate reality. Dean (Jensen Ackles) is trying to influence this reality from heaven, in order to protect the life Sam (Jared Padalecki) is living on Earth without him.

As well as Dean coming back and interacting with his Dad (played by Drake Rodger), Bobby (Jim Beaver) and Jack (Alexander Calvert) from Supernatural also made an appearance. Ackles spoke to Entertainment Weekly about what it was like to return to the character of Dean, in body as well as voice.

“It was a mixed bag. It’s weird because we’re in a different city, filming with a different crew. I’m working with different actors. Having Jim there and having Calvert there, it was almost like we were brought in from another team to come and show these new recruits how to play baseball. [Laughs] Like we weren’t on our home turf. But it was a position that we were all very comfortable with jumping into and, how could you not be with playing those characters as long as we all have? It was like Dean was on location.”

Regarding the future of the fantasy series at The CW, which went through a huge swathe of cancelling series last year, Ackles says; “We’re in such a weird time right now with the network kind of changing guard and not knowing quite what the new format’s gonna be and how that’s all gonna pan out. I know that everybody did everything they could to make the best show that they could. I know I’m really proud of it and everybody involved is really proud of it. Hopefully we land on our feet in some capacity, but I don’t know what that’s gonna look like.”

The CW cancelled a large number of shows in 2022, including Batwoman, Nancy Drew, Charmed, Dynasty, Legacies, Legends of Tomorrow, and more. We’ll have to wait to find out if there will be a Winchesters season 2. While we wait, check out our guide to the best horror series.