Many fans are still hoping Supernatural season 16 will eventually happen, and although the Supernatural finale seemingly left little room for a reboot, Castiel actor Misha Collins has pitched a brilliant way the show could return. 10 years after the original Supernatural ending, the season 15 finale brought the show to an end with a series of shocking moments.
From Dean’s death to the revelation that Jack had completely restructured Heaven, Supernatural’s final episode was full of surprises (some more popular than others), but it also felt conclusive, in part because the finale showed Sam’s life on Earth for decades, from his time as a father to his death as an old man.
Given that we see Sam age, seemingly without any further contact from those who have already died, it’s difficult to imagine how the original heroes could come back together in another season in a way that feels believable. However, Misha Collins’ idea for Supernatural season 16 perfectly addresses this problem, and it really could work.
Misha Collins’ Supernatural Revival Pitch Involves Time Travel
The definitive nature of the finale, wherein Sam walks away from the hunting life and, much later, dies as well, poses serious obstacles to making Supernatural season 16 work. Had the show ended with the penultimate episode, in which Sam and Dean were free from God and had their lives ahead of them, this would have been simple.
Instead, the finale seemingly closed the door on the possibility of a return, showing where both Sam and Dean ultimately end up, and heavily implying that the two don’t see one another between their respective deaths. That hasn’t stopped fans from hoping the show will indeed get a revival, though, and it seems several Supernatural actors feel the same.
Speaking exclusively with ScreenRant, Castiel actor Misha Collins weighed in on this conversation, saying:
“There has to be a way. I mean, we time traveled, and we went into parallel dimensions. And I think that it’s a problem, but because we have taken off so many of the constraints of normal narrative rules in Supernatural, there has to be a solution to that problem. What it is, I don’t know, because now we’ve seen Sam as an old man, which is a little weird. But I mean…we didn’t have to see Sam go through all the stages of aging; that does complicate a reboot. I’m not sure how we solve that problem, but, oh well. Time travel! We just solve it with time travel. We go back in time to right before Cas, that’s it, right before Cas sort of gave himself up to the Empty, and that way, Sam, Dean, and Cas, they’re all alive.”
What is particularly intriguing about Collins’ pitch for Supernatural season 16 is that it directly addresses the very obstacles that make a return seem impossible. Yes, we’ve seen that Sam ages and eventually dies, but there’s one very simple solution to this problem (and to others created in season 15): time travel.
This may seem far-fetched to some, but the fact that Supernatural already has a history with time travel, as Collins pointed out, makes this actually feel more than reasonable.
Time Travel Isn’t An Unreasonable Option
Time travel is a particularly difficult thing for shows and movies to pull off, for myriad reasons. For one, time travel becomes narratively messy very quickly, and stories involving time travel run the risk of having all sorts of plot holes and logical flaws. Time travel within a plot can also feel a bit goofy if not done properly.
There have been relatively recent examples that have impressively pulled this off, such as with Avengers: Endgame, although even that example—and, notably, an example from a massive franchise—was a gamble. What makes Collins’ idea compelling in terms of Supernatural, however, is the fact that this show already has the scaffolding it needs to make time travel work.
After all, as Collins himself points out, they’ve already done time travel multiple times in Supernatural. This happened in myriad ways, including with Castiel sending Dean back in time, and Sam and Dean ending up in the past at various points, both intentionally and otherwise. This means that time travel wouldn’t feel like a last-ditch effort.
Instead, this is actually already in keeping with what the show has done before. What makes Collins’ pitch for Supernatural season 16 truly genius, however, is the precise timeline he is suggesting. Collins isn’t just saying they can go back in time and change things; he has picked the absolute perfect moment for a reboot to begin.
Collins’ Specific Timing Really Is The Perfect Solution
Misha Collins’ specific idea regarding Supernatural season 16 is time travel to just before Castiel is taken by the Empty. This scene actually takes place several episodes before the finale, in season 15, episode 18, “Despair,” although it is the last time we see Cas on screen.
This ended up becoming one of the most controversial moments in the entire show—yet another one of the Supernatural controversies the cast discussed with ScreenRant—as it included a goodbye between Castiel and Dean in which Castiel declared his love for Dean, and Dean did not reciprocate.
In either case, were the characters to go back in time to before this moment, then all three main heroes would still be alive. Yes, they would still need to defeat God, as they ultimately do by the end of season 15, but they would presumably know just how to do that if they were coming from the future.
This would also correct many of the most significant issues fans have with the final season, including the tensions surrounding Castiel and Dean’s goodbye and the frustrations about how Dean was killed. This therefore really does seem like the perfect way for Supernatural to come back, correct some missteps, and find a logical way forward.
Now, whether this would actually be done is another question entirely. There’s little doubt that many fans of Supernatural would be absolutely thrilled to find out that a revival was happening, and many of the show’s actors have also made it clear that they would be open to participating if the series returned in one way or another.