The Winchesters Showrunner Gives A Glimpse Of What Monsters Fans Can Expect In Season 1

As the spin-off of the epic, 15-season CW franchise "Supernatural," the network's new prequel series "The Winchesters" promises to unleash a unique menagerie of nightmare-fuel monsters for fans of the original show. Over its many creature-filled seasons, "Supernatural" drew viewers deeply into the often-contentious familial dynamics of the Winchester brothers, the conventional, empathetic Sam (Jared Padalecki), and the cooler, more-relatable Dean (Jensen Ackles). In "The Winchesters," the torch is passed, backward in time, to Sam and Dean's parents, demon-hunter mom Mary (Meg Donnelly), and monster-slayer-in-training dad John (Drake Rodger).

While Sam and Dean are the primary emotional hook for "Supernatural" fans, as John and Mary will be in the new outing, both series rely heavily on the monster-of-the-week formula to keep the unearthly thrills coming hard and fast. So, in "Supernatural," fright-seeking audiences are treated to a list of gnarly critters, including everything from exotic specimens like the Rakshasa, Wendigo, and Rugaru, to more conventional beasties like vampires,, werewolves, and your elemental, run-of-the-mill ghosts and demons. So, after 15 seasons packed with more unholy entities than you can shake a modified 1836 Colt Patterson cap-and-ball revolver at, what monsters can fans hope to marvel at in Season 1 of "The Winchesters"?

As noted above, "The Winchesters" has some big rubber-and-latex-clawed creature shoes to fill when it comes to providing fans with the sort of monster-fix they became accustomed to on "Supernatural." In this regard, "The Winchesters" showrunner Robbie Thompson realizes he's prequel-ing a series that sets the standard for monstrous weekly appearances by creepie-crawlies, apparitions, and other non-human sorts. As he told Entertainment Weekly while discussing the show's premiere episode, he said, "I know that for a lot of people, you hear about a show running for 15 years and 327 episodes, but there was never a shortage of monsters or ideas."

So how will "The Winchesters" avoid running out of things that go bump in the night in the upcoming season? As Thompson put it, the show respects its roots where monsters are concerned, saying, "A touch point for us was those early seasons of 'Supernatural.'" While giving scant details, he added, "We'll be doing a lot of new and fun monsters, but you will see some old favorites." As for the werewolf-ish loup-garou making a guest appearance in "The Winchesters" recent premiere episode, Thompson explained that the creature wasn't precisely an all-new model, but that "This monster was kind of a proof of concept for us, it looks familiar, but it has a fresh coat of paint on it."