“I respect what you are saying—that I found out easy methods to deploy our followers for my very own private acquire,” Collins jokes to IGN. “I suppose I ought to take some credit score for mobilizing individuals, however I believe I tapped right into a fandom that simply had a really natural creativity, and enthusiasm, and vitality, and devotion.”
All this to say, Sam and Dean Winchester could have entered into final evening’s collection finale of Supernatural alone after defeating Chuck and dropping their angel, Castiel, however they definitely didn’t drive throughout the end line by themselves.
No, this journey actually belongs to the followers, writers, solid, and crew who’ve left their mark on the Supernatural fandom eternally. “It is arduous to not draw the parallels,” Collins says. “Sam and Dean are all about preventing the forces of evil within the supernatural universe, and I really feel just like the Supernatural fandom has been doing that in the true world in these actually pretty, significant methods.”
So, how do you say goodbye to one thing so highly effective that spans a decade and alter? IGN spoke to 6 invested followers in addition to 4 extra actors from the long-running CW collection concerning the fandom’s legacy and what comes subsequent.
Bear in mind, nothing ever actually ends, does it?
Kim Rhodes joined the solid of Supernatural again in Season 5 as Sheriff Jody Mills, a one-off character pressured to kill her personal son—properly, the murderous zombie model of him anyway. She then got here again for an episode in Season 6…and three in Season 7…and so forth and so forth till she grew to become a standout of the collection in addition to the conference circuit—even starring within the backdoor pilot for a possible spinoff “Wayward Sisters,” which was not picked up by the CW. “Supernatural opened up my mind and my coronary heart,” Rhodes says. “I really like the truth that I paid lease and insurance coverage and obtained to make some good pals, however the Household has additionally requested me to indicate up for myself. Figuring out that my voice is heard and I may give others a voice as properly—it is magic.”
What’s subsequent? Whereas Rhodes is aware of there will probably be conventions, she says it’s vital to know that issues could by no means be the identical. “I actually wish to honor the truth that Supernatural goes away,” she says. “I actually wish to honor it by acknowledging the truth that it’ll by no means be like that once more.”
Her recommendation to followers in mourning? “I will say cry extra,” she says. “We can’t get to the opposite aspect of loss, with out acknowledging the loss has occurred.”
Leo, 31
Leo moved from Egypt to the USA in 2012, which just about traces up with the 12 months he fell in love with Supernatural, and particularly the dynamic between Sam and Dean. “I used to be working two jobs on the time and barely had time to eat or sleep however I nonetheless managed to file the episodes and discover time to observe them between my jobs,” he remembers. Now, Leo is a full-time YouTuber, with a channel utterly dedicated to his favourite collection referred to as Wayward Winchester.
“I used to be devastated, to be trustworthy, like just about most followers,” he says of listening to the ultimate season announcement. “The nearer we get to the finale, the more serious I really feel about it as a result of there’s much less time left for the present, however I hold my head down, hold doing what I do so far as my work on my channel, and I attempt to not assume an excessive amount of about it as a result of you possibly can’t do something for those who simply hold being unhappy about it. I nonetheless get to work and revel in no matter is left.”
What’s subsequent? “That is a straightforward query for me,” Leo says. “I will hold making content material about Supernatural. I am glad we had this present in our lives and we at all times have the present to rewatch.” Or perhaps even a reboot or film down the road? “Nothing actually dies in Supernatural, because the actors say.”
Jules, 56
Jules, who works for a breast most cancers screening medical program in Melbourne, Australia by day, has labored tirelessly since 2006 to deliver Supernatural followers collectively on-line and in individual. On prime of operating the Supernatural Wiki web site—which she says is even utilized by the crew of the present to maintain tabs on 15 years price of lore, characters, and extra—she has revealed books and hosted occasions for members of the SPN Household at San Diego Comedian-Con.
“[The Supernatural fandom] is a inventive greenhouse. It is allowed me to put in writing each fiction and nonfiction, to run a web site, to learn to handle a group,” she says. “That is what frequently stuns me. For thus many individuals who could not see themselves as an artist or a author, they get to have someplace the place their work it is appreciated. On this world, having an area for creativity is a fairly uncommon and treasured factor.”
What’s subsequent? “The fandom’s not going wherever,” she guarantees. “Figuring out that the fandom would not end when the finale of Season 15 airs is actually vital. These relationships and connections will proceed.”
Matt Cohen (Director/Younger John Winchester/Michael)
Once I requested Jules who amongst the solid is most embedded within the fandom, she instantly talked about Matt Cohen. Although the actor has solely been in three episodes of the collection since he first appeared in Season 4 as a youthful model of Winchester patriarch John, he’s gone on to attend over 100 Supernatural conventions, the place he hosts karaoke occasions and speaks on panels. Most not too long ago, he was again on set to direct the pivotal Season 15 episode, “Gimme Shelter.”
“I used to be terrified that no person was going to know who I used to be,” he says of his first conference in New Jersey again in 2008. “It was such a supportive surroundings and it might solely nurture you for those who permit it. It will probably solely enable you develop for those who’re prepared to let the individuals in and allow them to actually have an effect on you.”
What’s subsequent? “Supernatural is simply so particular. It will probably’t not exist. It is simply unattainable,” Cohen insists. “The present created magic amongst all of us unusual individuals. And we share that with the followers and the followers share their magic with us. So it might probably’t go wherever. It will simply be right here in a roundabout way, form, or type. I really feel so fortunate and grateful to be a part of it. It is extraordinary.”
Maybe a younger John Winchester prequel? “I can write it and develop it proper now and pitch it to you,” Cohen says with amusing.
Stacie, 47
Stacie was about to go to her first conference when COVID-19 shut it down. Previous to that, her fandom expertise concerned running a blog and creating the net collection The Cleaners, following two Black girls inside the Supernatural universe who clear up after the Winchester brothers. Nevertheless, her connection to the SPN household has been examined.
“Our fandom is unimaginable and I’m nonetheless gonna follow [saying] it’s the very best fandom there may be…the caveat is for minorities—particularly Black followers,” she says. “When George Floyd occurred and Breonna Taylor, it was actually disheartening. When the hurricane occurred in Texas, [the cast and fans] had been the primary to donate all their cash. The place is all people at for Black individuals? It’s been quiet.”
That’s till the solid started internet hosting panels on racial inequality, the criminal justice system, and more with Black Lives Matter activists and politicians. “Misha and Jensen and Danneel [Harris-Ackles] redeemed the fandom,” she says. “I used to be able to stroll away. I used to be like, ‘why am I devoting all this love and all this vitality and time to one thing that doesn’t love me again?’ It’s form of like being a Black girl in America.”
Stacie, who trains nurses to make use of their pc software program at hospitals, has nonetheless leaned on fandom in the course of the pandemic to a sure extent, attending her first on-line StageIt panels by way of Creation Entertainment and collaborating in Collins’ week-long annual scavenger hunt GISH for the primary time ever. “I’ve been extra concerned within the bodily sense which is bizarre as a result of we’re on lockdown.”
What’s subsequent? “I believe I’ll at all times be part of the Supernatural fandom as a result of I really like the story. It’s a common story, it’s a human story, it’s a superb vs. evil story,” Stacie says, including that she’s nonetheless dedicated to going to 1 in-person conference. “When the mud settles and the smoke clears, [the Winchesters] remind me to get again within the struggle. I’ve this saying, that I’ve to ‘Winchester up’ in opposition to insurmountable odds—as a result of it looks like racism isn’t gonna finish. However I’m gonna Winchester again up and bounce in it.”
Lynn, 59
Lynn is a licensed psychologist and professor who has revealed six books on Supernatural and fandom and credit the present with a number of points of her life and profession. “[Without Supernatural], I do not assume I ever would’ve determined to really attempt to get a ebook revealed,” she says. All through her 13-year “obsesson,” Lynn has traveled everywhere in the world for conventions and wrote a brand new ebook, There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, with chapters contributed by SPN solid members and followers discussing the collection’ legacy to remedy her remaining season “denial.
Given her distinctive perspective on fandom, Lynn has recommendation for followers scuffling with what she describes as “disenfranchised loss”: respect your grief. “In case you lose an individual out of your life otherwise you lose a job that you have cared about, all people goes to help you. Everyone’s going to know that. However when the form of loss that you just’re experiencing is a tv present, individuals have a tendency to have a look at that as fairly frivolous,” she explains. “Do not let anyone let you know that this isn’t legit grieving. It’s okay to really feel unhappy and it is okay to do all of the issues that we do once we’ve misplaced one thing. It’s vital for us to discover a strategy to hold on to it, discover a strategy to rejoice it.”
What’s subsequent? “There’s nonetheless going to be a variety of vibrancy to the fandom and I wish to stick round to form of file what occurs with this fandom and hold researching its legacy,” Lynn says. “I am certain I’ll do one other ebook once we can actually make it a backward look. I do not assume I am going wherever.”
There’s maybe no actor who fairly represents the best way fandom and the solid intersect higher than Richard Speight Jr., who went from performing on Supernatural as a one-off Trickster demigod earlier than evolving to the archangel Gabriel to directing a number of fan-favorite episodes, together with Castiel’s farewell, “Despair.” And that’s on prime of being the go-to MC of the Supernatural conventions for the previous seven years and creating the net collection Kings of Con along with his fellow SPN Member of the family Robert Benedict (aka Chuck, aka God).
“The conventions are the connective tissue between the fandom and the present itself and being the only frontman of that put me proper in the course of all that insanity,” he says. “There’s not a variety of performers who’ve been the place I’m proper now and attending to see this play out in real-time.”
What’s subsequent? “I used to be directing Supernatural and Lucifer this previous season, however as for what occurs after this…I don’t know,” Speight Jr. says. “I am going to by no means not wish to be entrance and heart holding the microphone and doing what I have been doing for the final 10 years. So long as we will hold the standard excessive and hold the visitor checklist strong with our proficient buddies, and I believe it will nonetheless be one thing price doing and, and one thing price attending.”
Cindy, 36
As somebody with continual diseases and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Cindy has spent the higher a part of her 30s advocating for optimistic illustration of incapacity in media by organizing panels and occasions on incapacity inclusion with Supernatural actors, together with a SDCC panel with Shoshannah Stern (Eileen) and Rachel Miner (Meg).
The Supernatural fandom has come by way of for Cindy as properly, banding collectively to lift cash for a brand new scooter so she will transfer extra freely, particularly at conventions the place it may be robust to navigate by way of the gang. “It is proof that when it issues, this fandom comes collectively,” she says.
What’s subsequent? “We’re simply going to maintain elevating cash for good causes and hold doing fan artwork and discovering methods to take these characters and use them to assist affect ourselves,” Cindy tells me. “If I’m going by way of a tough time, I can put on a t-shirt that jogs my memory of the character who I like. I put on Supernatural issues and my GISH sock monkey hat once I go for an IV or go for photographs as a result of then I can look down and consider the characters or consider the fandom and really feel like I am not alone.”
Dean, 23
Dean is a 23-year-old actor, filmmaker, and unique dancer who typically cosplays as his favourite Supernatural characters. “Folks know me because the Portland Castiel or the pole dancing Dean,” he says.
Dean got here out as trans round his senior 12 months of highschool, and it was his connection to Dean Winchester’s story that helped him discover the braveness. (Although his title shouldn’t be really a direct reference.)
Since then, he’s attended a number of conventions and is part of Castiel’s Angels, a gaggle of followers who make merchandise and crafts for the assorted charity campaigns led by Supernatural solid members and Random Acts. Like everybody else on this checklist, he doesn’t see the SPN Household going away anytime quickly.
What’s subsequent? Dean says he’s engaged on an unofficial Supernatural mission, which is making the grieving course of a bit simpler. Nevertheless, even with out that, Dean feels assured that the SPN Household will keep on lengthy after Supernatural ends. “Look in direction of Firefly! That fandom remains to be holding on and it solely had one season,” he says. “Think about how lengthy we’ll final as a fandom.”
The actor behind the largest dangerous to ever dangerous on Supernatural has been part of the conference circuit for over a decade, but it surely was having a stroke in the course of a 2013 conference that actually solidified his emotions in direction of the SPN Household.
“I had a stroke on October thirteenth, 2013 whereas I used to be signing autographs. It was the occasion that modified my life and it was fairly traumatic,” Benedict remembers. “The outreach from the followers was overwhelming. Folks reached out and despatched messages and prayers. And, certain sufficient, I discovered to speak once more, my pulse got here again on my left aspect, and I healed. I felt like that eternally bonded me with the fandom.”
What’s subsequent? “When it comes to the legacy of Supernatural, it feels to me like a chapter is closing and I am form of enthusiastic about what the following chapter goes to be for me,” he says. “It is humorous ‘trigger my character on the present talks lots about ‘the tip’ and the way ‘endings are arduous,’ however I believe that we should always all take this time to form of bear in mind how unimaginable this expertise has been. This phenomenon of Supernatural has modified all of our lives and it is okay to cry and it is okay to snort, however I believe we should always simply give thanks as a result of it’s been such an epic factor to be part of.”
What did you consider Supernatural’s ending? Share your ideas within the feedback beneath.
