Supernatural officially ended its 15-season run in November 2020, and if you’re thinking that the show’s main actors have taken a well-deserved break after starring in the longest-running live-action fantasy TV series in the United States, then you’re completely wrong. Take a look at the list below to find out what projects keep the Supernatural alums busy after the CW series came to its inevitable conclusion.
Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki, who played Sam Winchester on Supernatural, returned to The CW in January 2021 for the network’s action crime drama, Walker. A straight reboot of the CBS series Walker, Texas Ranger that aired on CBS from 1993 to 2001, Walker stars Padalecki as Cordell Walker ― the role portrayed by Chuck Norris in the original.
After going undercover for two years for a high-profile case, Padalecki’s Cordell, a broken widower and a father of two, returns to Austin and finds out that there’s even more work to be done at home. He attempts to reconnect with his creative and thoughtful son Arlo (Kale Culley) and with his headstrong, rebellious teenage daughter Stella (Violet Brinson), as he navigates clashes with his other family members. This includes his ADA brother Liam (Keegan Allen) who stepped in during Walker’s absence; his perceptive mother Abeline (Molly Hagen); and his traditional rancher father Bonham (Mitch Pileggi).
Meanwhile, at work, Cordell’s former colleague Larry James (Coby Bell) is now his Ranger Captain. While growing increasingly suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his wife’s death, Walker finds unexpected common ground with his new partner Mickie (Lindsey Morgan), who is one of the first women in Texas Rangers’ history.
In May 2023, the CW renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered in April 2024.
Jensen Ackles
After playing Dean Winchester in Supernatural, Jensen Ackles dove into the superhero genre in 2022 with the third season of Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys, in which he portrayed the series regular role of Soldier Boy. Supernatural creator Eric Kripke serves as an executive producer on The Boys.
Introduced as the main antagonist of the new season, Soldier Boy was America’s first and greatest superhero before Homelander (Antony Starr) and the former leader of the superhero team Payback. He helped good triumph over evil in World War II, but it’s not clear how much of that is true, as rumor has it that his participation in the war was Vought propaganda. He was said to have fought for liberty and justice for all until his disappearance during a botched military operation in Nicaragua.
His disappearance was covered up with a story claiming that he heroically sacrificed his own life to save America from a nuclear power plant meltdown in 1984. But in season 3, fast-forward to the present time, the Boys discovered that Soldier Boy is still alive after they broke into a military facility in Russia.
Also in 2022, Ackles returned to the Supernatural universe as narrator in the TV show The Winchesters, a spinoff from and prequel to Supernatural. Set in the 1970s, Dean Winchester (Ackles) narrates the story of how his parents, John Winchester (Drake Rodger) and Mary Winchester (Meg Donnelly), met, fell in love, and fought monsters together while in search for their missing fathers.
The Winchesters aired from October 11, 2022, until March 7, 2023, on The CW. In May 2023, the network canceled the series after one season.
On the movie front, Jensen Ackles voiced Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, in the two-part 2021 film Batman: The Long Halloween. He also lent his pipes to the Caped Crusader in the movies Legion of Super-Heroes (2023), Justice League: Warworld (2023), Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One and Part Two (2024).
Misha Collins
Misha Collins, who played the angel Castiel in Supernatural, appeared as Dylan in the 2021 sci-fi thriller Encounter. In the same year, the actor hosted the PBS docuseries Roadfood, which aims to re-discover America’s regional culture through its iconic dishes.
Collins returned to the CW for Gotham Knights in 2023. Cast as a series regular, Collins played the role of Harvey Dent in the superhero show. Premiered on March 14th, 2023, Gotham Knights opened in the wake of Bruce Wayne’s death with his adopted son Turner Hayes (Oscar Morgan) forging an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies after they were all framed for the murder. The series was canceled after one season.
Alexander Calvert
Alexander Calvert, who played the dual roles of Jack Kline and Belphegor in the 15th and final season of Supernatural, stars as Rufus in Amazon Prime Video’s Gen V. A spinoff of The Boys, Gen V centers on young adult Supes who are tested in The Hunger Games-style challenges at the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, run by Vought International.
Calvert also made an appearance in one episode of The Winchesters.
Mark Pellegrino
Mark Pellegrino, a.k.a. Lucifer in Supernatural, landed the role of Virgil Poe in the Showtime crime drama American Rust.
First released in September 2021, American Rust is based on Philipp Meyer’s debut novel of the same name. The show is a compelling family drama that explores the tattered American dream through the eyes of a complicated and compromised chief of police Del Harris (Jeff Daniels) in a Rust Belt town in southwest Pennsylvania. When the woman he truly loves sees her son accused of murder, Harris is forced to decide what he’s willing to do to protect him.
In January 2022, it was revealed that Showtime canceled the series after one season. But in June 2022, the series was revived for a second season by Amazon Freevee.
Pellegrino also snagged a couple of guest appearances on TV after his Supernatural stint, appearing in an episode of Fox’s 9-1-1 and in an episode of ABC’s The Rookie: Feds. He’s also part of the cast of the upcoming Hulu original series Class of ‘09 and a limited comedy series, titled Underdeveloped.
On the film front, Pellegrino is set to appear in Strangers in a Strange Land. Shot in twelve different cities around the world, the comedy film is made up of 12 comedic shorts connected by the same theme. It is written and directed by his wife, Tracy Pellegrino.
Lastly, Pellegrino will appear in the short film Mis/Identity.
Both Strangers in a Strange Land and Mis/Identity don’t have release dates yet.
Jim Beaver
After playing Bobby Singer, one of the longest-running recurring characters in Supernatural, Jim Beaver appeared as Sheriff Jedediah Judd in Guillermo del Toro’s psychological thriller film Nightmare Alley.
Released in December 2021, the movie follows Stan (Bradley Cooper), an ambitious young carny named with a talent for manipulating people. With a few well-chosen words, Stan hooks up with a psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), who is even more dangerous than he is. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham.
Beaver also played the role of Secretary of Defense Robert A. Singer in the first three seasons of The Boys. He also recurred as Spencer Williams in two seasons of the CBS sitcom B Positive and guest-starred in an episode of The Winchesters.
In 2022, Beaver appeared as a radio host in the thriller movie No More Time. He will be next seen in the horror flick Kindling and in the comedy film Rock and Doris (Try To) Write a Movie.
Ruth Connell
Ruth Connell appeared as the witch Rowena MacLeod from the tenth season to the fifteenth season of Supernatural. After her time in Supernatural came to an end, she joined the cast of the 2020 horror thriller The Cursed Man. She was also part of the voice cast of 2021’s The Loud House Movie and guest-starred as Night Nurse in an episode of HBO Max’s Doom Patrol in the same year. Connell is currently reprising her role as Night Nurse in the Dead Boy Detectives TV series.
Furthermore, Connell also appeared as Mrs. Irving in the 2023 movie Nandor Fodor and lent her voice to the character Polly MacCoinnich in the 2023 video game Starfield.
Rob Benedict
After playing God in Supernatural, Rob Benedict is back to playing human roles. In 2021, the actor guest-starred as Hunter in an episode of the Netflix comedy series On the Verge, appeared as Vincent LeMec/Daniel Espinoza in Lucifer, and played the role of Damian Davenport in NCIS: Hawai‘i. In the same year, the actor also appeared as Fred Collins in the drama film Violet. In 2024, he starred in the comedy thriller ClearMind
Most recently, Benedict guest-starred in Leverage: Redemption and The Winchesters. He is also set to appear in season 4 of The Boys.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
After playing the role of John Winchester in Supernatural from 2005 to 2007 and then in 2019, Jeffrey Dean Morgan went on to play several TV roles including LaSalle in Leopard Skin, Negan Smith in The Walking Dead: Dead City, and Joe “Monkey” Kessler in The Boys.