“Supernatural” is ending after its upcoming 15th season, but series star Jensen Ackles says he’s open to returning to the world down the line.
“It’s long journey that I don’t think is ever going to be over,” Ackles said at the Television Critics Association press tour on Sunday. “I think we’re just going to go away for a while. For how long, I don’t know.”
The upcoming 20-episode season is set to cap off “Supernatural’s” run as the longest-running sci-fi/fantasy series in American broadcast television history and bring the show’s total to a whopping 327 episodes. And executive producer Andrew Dabb said fans can expect a real conclusion to the story of the Winchester brothers.
“We’re looking at this as a true ending, and in a true ending people can’t keep coming back over and over again,” Dabb said. “They’re going to be facing life or death, which really they face a lot, but this time it’s for real.”
But while the show’s cast and crew are focused on giving fans a real ending, Ackles said there’s a running joke on set that dead things don’t tend to stay dead on “Supernatural.”
“I’m not ever ready to close doors or burn bridges, I think that’s foolish,” he said. “Am I saying there’s something in the works? No. Am I saying I’m open to conversations in the future? Why not.”
Jared Padalecki and Ackles have starred in every single episode of the show since its debut in 2005. Their co-star Misha Collins, who also appeared alongside the cast and producers on Sunday, has tallied 135 episodes.
Earlier in the day, CW president Mark Pedowitz described the conversation about the decision to end the show as “very, very long, sad,” and “heartbreaking.”
“They wanted to go out still relevant, they wanted to go be with their families, they wanted to see what else was out in the world,” Pedowitz said. “And you know what? As we always said — and I said this many times — When they are ready to stop, we will stop.”
Pedowitz came out on stage again at the end of the panel to thank them for their 15-year run and leave the door open for them to return.
“You will always have a home here,” he said. “And you will always have a personal fan in me.”