Supernatural and Walker Prequel Spinoffs, Gotham Knights Get Series Orders as CW Shakes Up Slate
Having spent this Thursday morning veritably clearing its shelves (by way of six cancellations, so far!), The CW has ordered to series the prequel spinoffs for Supernatural and Walker, as well as the DC comics-inspired Gotham Knights.
Told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), The Winchesters promised to deliver “the epic, untold love story” of how Sam and Dean’s parents, John (played by The In Between‘s Drake Rodger) and Mary (American Housewife‘s Meg Donnelly), first met, “and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.”
Robbie Thompson is penning the series and serving as an executive producer alongside Jensen Ackles and his wife/producing partner Danneel Ackles, and pilot director Glen Winter.
Walker: Independence is an origin story set in the late 1800s that follows Abby Walker (Arrow‘s Katherine McNamara), an affluent Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West. On her quest for revenge, Abby crosses paths with Hoyt Rawlins (Blood & Treasure‘s Matt Barr), a lovable rogue in search of purpose. Abby and Hoyt’s journey takes them to Independence, Texas, where they encounter diverse, eclectic residents running from their own troubled pasts and chasing their dreams. There, the newfound family will struggle with the changing world around them, while becoming agents of change themselves in a town where nothing is what it seems.
Seamus Fahey and Anna Fricke co-wrote the pilot, and serve as EPs alongside Walker star Jared Padalecki, Dan Lin and Lindsey Liberatore, Laura Terry and director Larry Teng.
Lastly of the three series orders, there’s Gotham Knights. “In the wake of Bruce Wayne’s murder, his rebellious adopted son (played by Oscar Morgan) forges an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies when they are all framed for killing the Caped Crusader,” reads the logline. “And as the city’s most wanted criminals, this renegade band of misfits must fight to clear their names. But in a Gotham with no Dark Knight to protect it, the city descends into the most dangerous it’s ever been. However, hope comes from the most unexpected of places as this team of mismatched fugitives will become its next generation of saviors known as the [see series title].”
While set in Gotham City, Gotham Knights is not a spinoff of the recently cancelled Batwoman. Also, it is based on Gotham Knights characters from the DC comics, not the upcoming release from Warner Bros. Games.
Gotham Knights was written by exec producers Chad Fiveash and James Stoteraux, along with co-EP Natalie Abrams (Batwoman). Other EPs on the series include pilot director Danny Cannon, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and David Madden.
yaaaay I guess
btw im sure some people want to blame cw for gotham knights for having another batman related show without batman but in their defense that is not their fault, take your rage on the higher ups at wb who for some oddball reason think batman needs to stick to movies at least in live action, same i think goes for wonder woman and maybe green lantern and a few others
cause ive noticed people getting mad at the cw but its not really their choice
Tbh just reading the synopsis gives me this feeling that this show began as something else and it had to be adapted into a Batman show in order to get green lit, the way they avoid the characters that do appear in the source material of this comic saga is at least very odd.
Also, I wonder if this is happening now only to go into synergy with the video game of same name and same story…
yeah maybe
Not letting the CW use Batman is not an excuse for the CW making another Batman-without-Batman show. Enough already. We’re sick of it.
well in their mind they probably think they can do something with the scraps so to speak and salvage what is left
Gotham Knights sounds like a hot mess. Hard pass.
While i am happy about these (especially The Winchesters), it’s been so disheartening to see all of the cancelations today that i don’t feel as jazzed for these pick-ups as i would’ve if that hadn’t happened.
I feel the same way. I’m still worried that these shows won’t even make it to air though.
I get that, but i doubt it. We’ll see though.
Good decision bringing Matt Barr back but too bad it’s old days so guess he won’t be glittery on the stripper pole this time.
DC dilutes its brand with all these cheap Batman offshoots. Focus on Mat Reeves HBOMax series.
Personally I think the more popular Suicide Squad members should have their own show. That includes Harley & Bloodsport, maybe Ratcatcher 2.
Harley has a cartoon and that’s good enough; we don’t need even more of her beyond the film appearances (Margot Robbie does a fantastic job but she has enough other film offers to keep her busy and it’s best to not overexpose the character even further). I’m definitely game for the other ones though. I mean, I thought Peacemaker would have zero interest for me after the film and it surprised in a great way.
Sorry, Gotham Knights sounds like a hot garbage fire on a humid day.
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It’s funny. In spite of having a huge library of characters and content, WB and DC are obsessed with Gotham City, but they’re dead set on keeping Batman off-screen. They dance around more than Fred Astaire.
The Walker spinoff could be quite good and definitely has a Yellowstone/1883 vibe to it….the only qualm I really have about it is, if this show is about the early Walkers settling into their life in Texas and their eventual ancestral home – the original show surely HAS to get their home back to its proper owners before this season’s finale…..otherwise, if they keep the Walkers out of Walker ranch, the new show will have a slight bitterness to it.
Hard Pass. They just cliff hanger cancelled a third of their line up. Only an idiot signs up for more disappointment. Good luck to anyone who invests the time, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Well, at least the best crew members from Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman can crew-up GOTHAM KNIHGHTS…
They can’t it’s not connected to the Arrowverse, it’s a standalone show…
DC parcels out its characters as “properties” to be monetized by muggles. Marvel used to do that but eventually wised up.
Unfortunately not. Gotham Knights films in Toronto, the others were in Vancouver. I feel really sorry for all staff & crew on the cancelled shows, with 9 CW and the shows from other networks cancelled today & recently, that’s a couple of thousand people looking for new productions to work on. Especially so late & with so many shows cancelled.
So they cancelled all those other shows to make room for these? And they expect people who watched those other shows to watch the new ones? That’s funny. Today was a blood bath and totally destroyed the network in my eyes.
I was excited for the Winchesters since I’m a Supernatural fan but I’m not giving this network anymore of my time. Hope it’s as good as Supernatural for the other fans though. I know everyone misses it terribly.
Very few people were watching the shows that they cancelled.
No, they cancelled shows that hardly anyone was watching.
The sad truth is this network is an unnecessary sinking ship. It lists its youthful vibe and relevancy a while ago. It will be sold and eventually the new owner will fill it with even cheaper stuff once their deal to provide shows runs out. The viewership is super low which is why the decent shows have been on other streaming services. Since the output deals aren’t as good or were running out a long overdue clean up was needed. Long years of seasons isn’t gonna happen. 1-5 range is the new normal. With so many shows I just watch then move on to the next thing. I just don’t expect my from this network anymore.
I guess Blood and Treasure is officially dead. I doubt Matt Barr will be doing both shows. Especially the amount of travel required for Blood and Treasure.
I guess Covid killed the show. I wish CBS would just release the second season – i don’t know what the holdup is.
Spinoffs and Batman without Batman. Nothing new here. Even with the actors, they are CW familiars…If at least they had cancelled Legends (the one that hurt the most) for fresh ideas but alas…
Really excited for the Walker prequel – they were very smart bringing Matt Barr back.
Not really into the Supernatural prequel. It feels like it will have a lot of retconning of Mary and John’s history.
Gotham Knights choice to have a completely original character as Batman’s son makes it way less interesting for the comic nerd in me.
Boring new shows, no originality.
With the cancellation of Legends and In the Dark, I have nothing to watch on the Cw, bye!
Gotham Knights seems terrible. However I am interested in The Winchesters. Can it work without Eric Kripke at the helm, though?
I love Supernatural but I’m gonna pass on this. I wanted Wayward Sisters. That’s the only story I’m interested in seeing from Supernatural. Jodi and Donna are better characters than John and Mary. I might give Gotham Knights a chance if it’s dark.
Seriously, seriously, could not care less about the SPN prequel. It’s honestly the worst idea for a spin-off I’ve ever heard. Or Walker either
Literally so disgusted with the CW. “Hey let’s cancel every single female lead show, and get a bunch of dude shows.” Clearly CW knows nothing about their audience.
again this is more of there a new owners and i hope maybe that at least namoi could get a 2nd chance on hbo-max
yeah cause nancy drew, stargirl, kung fu arent female led
I know it’s not TheCW fault but I hope they won’t lose viewers after basically canceling every show’s fans have love I’m just saying
And once again, the DC hodge-podge grows. No consistency, no continuity, no overall vision. Just some producers hiring writers and actors to monetize a property that they really don’t understand.
All on the same network, too.
certainly won’t watch any prequel or spin offs or whatever. I used to watch lot of CW but since they successfully killed almost everything worth watching. I’m done with them.
I’m interested in seeing where the CW goes from here. Since its creation, they haven’t really pushed to grow the network, build an audience or produce particularly good content. The WB did better with all of that, but it seemed like the CW standards were very low. So I get the mass cancellations. It is probably long past due. But then they go and pick up a series that hardcore Supernatural fans have shown no desire to see. This is almost Paramount+ level decision making (but not quite that bad yet).
With 9 shows cancelled & 3 picked up, I’ve no idea how the CW is going to fill their schedule next year.
Each of the new shows could be good or terrible. Walker Ind I think is on the wrong network, for that type of show to work you need to show the harsh realities of that time period and I just don’t think this show will do that. The Winchesters, I’m fine with breaking canon but the stories need to be interesting and not just a rethread of Sam & Deans greatest hits. Gotham Nights, again needs to be harsh and gritty due to the characters they’re using and those characters back stories, Not sure the CW will deliver that. Willing to give all a chance but just don’t know.