After all these years, Supernatural creator Eric Kripke revealed the show's original ending, and honestly, it may have been for the best that it was changed. The hit CW mystery series ran on the network for 15 seasons, but that was not originally the plan. The show, led by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki (who fans have been wanting to reunite in Kripke's latest series, The Boys), was initially going to come to a close after five seasons. That plan never came to pass, though, as yes, Kripke left after five seasons, but the show went on for another 10 seasons without him, actually airing its series finale in November 2020 (more than a decade after it was initially supposed to conclude.
Appearing on a recent podcast, Supernatural creator Eric Kripke finally pulled the curtain back on his original vision for the long-running series' ending, which was supposed to come in the Season 5 finale. According to the renowned TV showrunner, the original ending would have added a new spooky twist to the show's ever-unfolding otherworldly mystery, leaving Jared Padalecki's Sam Winchester in Hell and Jensen Ackles' Dean Winchester with a daughter who would have taken up the demon hunting mantle.
Kripke broke it all down on an episode of Supernatural: Then and Now, saying the original plan had a lot more "horror movie DNA" in it and would have had the show's story to that point fold back in on itself:
"There was never any plan for Dean to jump into hell with him. I actually ultimately think it's good they didn't leave the ending to me because the ending that I had in mind was way more with like a horror movie DNA, which I think would have been unsatisfying. So the scoop is, now enough time has passed, I will tell you what it is. I don't know if I've ever even said it publicly."
This would have seen Sam descend into Hell and Dean "work his ass off to try and get him" but ultimately, "let go of his brother:"
"So the way the ending was supposed to go is Sam goes into hell, Dean works his ass off to try and get him out in a montage similar to what is there but ultimately can't because Dean's big emotional movement was that he had to learn to let go of his brother. Now, the fact is that his brother is being tortured in hell. When we came up with it, we weren't quite so specific. We didn't have anything like that. Remember, we had Dean in that Hellraiser chain world. And so I think it was probably like more like, oh, where did he go, but I'm gonna let him go."
Having given up on his conquest to save his brother, Dean would have then gone back to Lisa (played by Cindy Sampson) and had a baby named Samantha:
"Dean goes back to Cindy [Lisa], and they have a baby, and its a girl. They name the baby Samantha, and then the final image would be like he's got Samantha, he kisses Samantha, and he kisses Cindy and puts the baby in the crib, and they leave and turn out the light."
That is when things would have taken a turn for the meta, however, as then "a dark figure [would have come] over the crib," harkening back to the series' original teaser trailer, essentially teasing that the Winchester's demon-hunting DNA is flowing through this infant as well and would have started a new adventure for the iconic TV family:
"And then a dark figure comes over the crib, and it goes back to the teaser of 'Supernatural.' Then it's like a hard blackout, and there's a strong implication that it's all gonna start all over again. So Dean is gonna become John, and Samantha is gonna be the new demon hunter... I meant to end it with a big question mark. Oh, This story is going to continue. It's one thing I always loved about the Buffy ending, which was more hopeful than this. After they got rid of the Hellmouth, they were like oh, there's a whole bunch of other Hellmouths. Where are we gonna go? You push in on Buffy, and you just know the fight's gonna continue.
This is significantly different from the ending fans got nearly a decade after Kripke's planned series finale, in which the Winchester twins die saving the world from a vampire attack and are reunited in heaven, vanquishing the blood-sucking threat in the meantime.
Supernatural ran for 15 seasons on The CW from 2005 to 2020, following the otherworldly adventures of brothers Dean and Sam Winchester as they helped rid the world of various (appropriately) supernatural threats. Despite being about five years since the series ended, Supernatural lives on through a fervent fanbase that has kept the show in the conversation and will likely do so for years to come.
The show has also found a second life on streaming, being housed on Netflix for years. However, that is set to end in 2025, with Supernatural leaving the service in December.
Would the Original Supernatural Ending Have Been Better?
It is always interesting to look back at series that could have ended at several points throughout their run, seeing what could have been had the show closed the book right then instead of getting picked up with further stories pursued.
Supernatural is no different. While the series would have likely had some legs if it ended with Eric Kripke's original finale in Season 5, its lasting impact would probably be nowhere near what it has become, having gone on for another 10 years after that.
In fact, fans of the series have let it be known that they largely prefer the Supernatural ending they got in Season 15 rather than the original Season 5 pitch. The Season 15 ending provided a happier close to the Winchester story, which some had been on for a significant portion of their lives to that point.
Looking back, even Kripke may agree the finale fans got was probably for the better, positing in his Then and Now appearance that it was "not a happy ending:"
"I was trying to give it my horror movie spin on that. So that was the ending. It was a lot of question marks. Not a happy ending. That horror movie ending."
Kripke's original vision may have been a bit more head-turning when it came to pass, but now that we know the lasting legacy of the Winchester brothers, it makes sense that fans like the ending they got rather than the one they didn't.
After 15 years on the air, Dean and Sam Winchester deserved a send-off worthy of their extended run on TV. These characters are now some of the most iconic in TV history for a great many fans, so giving them a somewhat happy ending as audiences said goodbye was key, and that was simply something Kripke's original Season 5 vision did not provide.
With Kripke's latest TV hit, The Boys, set to end sometime next year, it will be interesting to see what direction he takes in its finale and how it closes the book on its world and characters.
