The Winchesters is a Supernatural prequel focusing on a young John and Mary, but which actors could play Sam and Dean's future parents?
Who could play Supernatural's John and Mary Winchester in upcoming prequel spinoff, The Winchesters? With its many beheadings and horror leanings, Supernatural is not a "family show." It is, however, a show very much about family. At Supernatural's core is the unbreakable brotherly bond between Sam and Dean Winchester - a sibling love so strong, it threatened to destroy the world on multiple occasions - but equally as important to Supernatural's DNA is Sam and Dean's connection to parents, John and Mary.
Acknowledging the reverence with which John and Mary Winchester are held by the Supernatural history books, Jensen and Danneel Ackles are producing a prequel in which Dean narrates the past exploits of his parents. The most familiar versions of John and Mary are portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Samantha Smith, but thanks to the wonders of time travel, young Winchester parents already featured in Supernatural, played by Matt Cohen and Amy Gumenick.
Since The Winchesters purports to cover John and Mary's history even further back than Supernatural's time travel episodes, Cohen and Gumenick - who last appeared together in 2010 - likely won't reprise their roles. That means John and Mary Winchester are destined for a fresh-faced recast. Here's a selection of actors who could play Supernatural's biggest power couple in The Winchesters.
In a culture that so often forces female characters to be one or the other, Mary Winchester blends natural maternal instinct with unapologetic violence - and those qualities are present even before she gives birth to eldest son, Dean. Whomever plays Mary in The Winchesters must carry the aura of someone a child might wish to hug after being picked on by bullies... but also someone who'd then threaten said bullies with the biggest knife in her collection. Offering that duality is Erin Moriarty, best known for playing Starlight in Amazon's The Boys. As Starlight, Moriarty conveys the natural innocence of a stereotypical small-town young woman - not a million miles from Mary Winchester's own upbringing - but when she's yelling at The Deep or kicking seven shades out of Stormfront, it becomes painfully apparent that Starlight is not to be crossed, all thanks to Moriarty's convincing portrayal. Throw in how the actress absolutely works as a younger Samantha Smith, and Erin Moriarty could soon swap superheroes for Supernatural.
The Winchesters' young Mary is essentially just an inexperienced version of Samantha Smith's Supernatural character. Mary's boyfriend, on the other hand, will share very little common ground with the John we've seen Jeffrey Dean Morgan play. At this point in Supernatural history, John Winchester has no idea how many things go bump in the night, and still possesses the hopeful optimism of a man who hasn't watched his wife burn to death. That disconnect between past-John and future-John makes casting his role trickier than Mary's, but one actor immediately leaping ahead of the queue is Joshua Orpin. Most famous for Superboy/Conner Kent in Titans, Orpin's half-Kryptonian is the most naive member of Dick Grayson's Not-Quite-Teen Titans... but also the one usually holding the moral compass. Occasionally, Conner Kent's inner turmoil will catch up with him, resulting in a self-doubting crisis of identity. That experience speaks to John in The Winchesters - a man recently returned from military service, now looking to settle down with a beautiful companion who's everything he ever dreamed of... and also marry Mary.
The Walking Dead's comic book series is packed with popular protagonists, so when a TV-original character steals the spotlight, the actor playing them must be doing something right. That's precisely how Emily Kinney came to prominence as Beth Greene in The Walking Dead, naturally evolving from a minor background character to the emotional heart of the zombie apocalypse. That experience will come in handy, since Mary will inevitably carry those same emotive responsibilities in The Winchesters. No actor survives multiple seasons of The Walking Dead without showing serious grit either, adding another Mary-ism to Emily Kinney's dramatic range. Kinney's most appealing quality, however, is her ability to bring touching family bonds to the small screen. Whether playing alongside Lauren Cohan's Maggie or Scott Wilson's Hershel, Beth's Greene family connections consistently struck the right chord. That's good news for The Winchesters, which will succeed or fail largely on how convincing the chemistry between its two leads - as well as the wider Campbell family - comes across.
You may remember Dacre Montgomery puking up black goop as Billy Hargrove in Stranger Things, or being the mightiest, morphin'-est teenager in 2017's Power Rangers movie. Don't be too surprised if Montgomery also inherits the John Winchester mantle from Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Before getting engaged to Mary, John Winchester was something of a Danny Zuko - car oil on his hands, trying to "get the girl" while a retro soundtrack plays in the background (albeit Kansas rather than 1950s rock 'n' roll). In Stranger Things, Dacre Montgomery proved himself proficient at both the 1980s heartthrob act, and the tortured-soul-putting-on-a-tough-exterior. After he grew up believing his own father ran away from home, that's a key component of John's character too. Sam and Dean Winchester have made perfectly clear how John was not the model father. That's mostly down to Mary's gruesome murder, but The Winchesters can sprinkle small seeds of darkness into young John's personality, foreshadowing future mistakes. That light-and-dark balance makes Dacre Montgomery a strong contender.
Just like Supernatural, The Winchesters will air on The CW - a network with no shortage of talented young actors on its books. Casting the role of Mary Winchester, CW executives may be tempted to suggest The Winchesters take a glance at Riverdale, where Lili Reinhart portrays Betty Cooper. Though the two young women occupy vastly different worlds, Betty and Mary are two heroes you wouldn't want to upset. Both are loathe to ignore injustice, and have taken dangerous matters into their own hands on more than one occasion, investigating, imprisoning, and even making threats when the need arises. Playing Betty through Riverdale's 6 seasons more than proves Lili Reinhart's ability to bring Mary Winchester (back) to life. She's also the closest on this list to Amy Gumenick in terms of physical appearance, and remains a proven hit with The CW's target audience. Check out Reinhart in Hustlers for better proof of her dramatic range and star quality.
Supernatural prefers keeping casting choices in the family, and being unable to bring Amy Gumenick and Matt Cohen back will undoubtedly be a wrench for Jensen Ackles. Nevertheless, casting Supernatural alumni would compliment The Winchesters' overarching theme of familial togetherness, and of all the actors we've already encountered on the show, Colin Ford represents the best bet as a young John Winchester. Ford will be familiar to Supernatural fans as kid Sam Winchester, who featured in flashbacks from season 3 onward. Suffice to say, Colin Ford is almost unrecognizable from those early episodes, and is now in his mid-twenties. Already part of the Supernatural family, Ford possesses a deep understanding of the show's fictional mythology, but more importantly, grasps the unique dynamic behind the Winchester family. And since Ford already shares a passing similarity to Jared Padalecki, he easily carries off playing Sam and Dean's Supernatural father.
