It may have been nearly six years since the end of Supernatural, but Dean and Sam Winchester’s monster-hunting days are far from over thanks to a brand-new Castiel spinoff. The series brings back everyone’s two favorite brothers, along with their designated fallen angel. While competing with the original show will always feel like an impossible task, a recently released preview suggests that this next chapter could be nothing short of perfection.
If you haven’t heard the news, Castiel, Dean, and Sam are returning in Supernatural Special: Castiel, a one-shot spinoff that takes the trio back to their early days together while providing a canon “missing chapter” of the CW series. The special follows Castiel as he trails after the Winchester brothers on their latest hunt in Gainesville, Florida. Since the story is set during a period when the angel’s relationship with Dean and Sam is still relatively new, fans can expect plenty of well-intentioned interference from Castiel, with predictably chaotic results.
Set for release on June 10, 2026, the 40-page Dynamite comic special is being spearheaded by writer Preeti Chhibber and artist Pasquale Qualano, and will be available at local comic shops for $5.99. For anyone still on the fence about picking it up, the five-page preview below should be more than enough to win them over. Chhibber and Qualano have perfectly captured the hilarious and iconic dynamic between Castiel and the Winchester brothers, making the comic feel less like a spinoff and more like a genuine lost episode of Supernatural.
Castiel Returns With Sam & Dean Winchester in a Missing Supernatural Chapter (And It’s Already Perfect)
Preview Pages Come from Supernatural Special: Castiel #1 (2026)
With just under three days until its full release, Dynamite has dropped an early first look at the Castiel special, and it is already clear that Chhibber and Qualano have captured the same humor and character dynamics that made Supernatural so beloved among fans. In just the opening pages of the preview, Dean and Sam’s voices feel remarkably authentic, to the point that many readers will likely hear every line in the voices of Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.
Chhibber does an exceptional job balancing humor and emotion through the contrast between Dean and Sam’s trademark brotherly bickering and the more serious tone of Castiel’s narration. As Castiel reflects on his status as a fallen angel after choosing the Winchesters over Heaven, the comic immediately establishes both the comedy and heart that defined the television series. Furthermore, the preview genuinely feels like an episode of the show, even incorporating one of its most beloved recurring tropes: Dean sensing Castiel’s presence and “praying” to the angel.
From Lawrence to Lebanon · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know Supernatural? “Saving people, hunting things — the family business.”
Baby’67 Chevy Impala
The TrenchcoatCastiel, Angel of the Lord
Demon BladeRuby’s knife
John’s JournalHunter scripture
Wayward SonThe Road So Far
01
Supernatural premiered on The WB on September 13, 2005, and ran a record-breaking 15 seasons / 327 episodes through November 2020 across The WB and The CW. The series creator and original showrunner — who’d later create NBC’s Timeless and develop Amazon’s The Boys — pitched it as a road-trip horror anthology before two brothers took over the centre of the show. Name him.
✓ Correct! Eric Kripke. He’d originally pitched the show to Warner Bros. as a tabloid-reporter anthology titled “Tape” before reformulating it around two brothers. Kripke ran the show through Season 5 (the original planned ending), then handed off to Sera Gamble, Jeremy Carver, Andrew Dabb and Robert Singer over the next decade. The Boys (2019–) is essentially Kripke processing the same superhero/horror genre concerns at a much higher budget.
✗ Wrong showrunner. The answer is Eric Kripke. Greg Berlanti is the Arrowverse / DC superhero TV mogul (Arrow, The Flash). Joss Whedon was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Firefly creator whose work clearly influenced Supernatural but who has no credit on it. Bryan Fuller did Pushing Daisies and Hannibal. Kripke is the one who took the show from a Vancouver pilot to a fifteen-season behemoth.
02
Dean Winchester — the older, classic-rock-loving, demon-blade-wielding brother who introduces himself with “hey, Sammy” and a leather jacket and ends the series in a pickup-bed funeral pyre — was played by an actor whose pre-Supernatural CV included Days of Our Lives (as Eric Brady), Dark Angel (as Alec) and Smallville (as Jason Teague). Name him.
✓ Correct! Jensen Ackles. He’d actually originally auditioned for Sam, the younger brother, before being moved to Dean opposite Jared Padalecki. Ackles directed six episodes of the series himself (his first was Season 6’s “Weekend at Bobby’s”). Post-Supernatural he reunited with Eric Kripke to play Soldier Boy in Season 3 of The Boys, and headlined the short-lived prequel The Winchesters (2022–23) as a narrating older Dean.
✗ Wrong Winchester. The answer is Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is John Winchester — the brothers’ father, who originated the lead-by-a-grizzled-cowboy energy Negan would later inherit. Misha Collins is Castiel. Jared Padalecki is Sam, the younger, taller brother. Ackles plays Dean — the shorter, leather-jacketed, classic-rock-quoting older one.
03
Across all 327 episodes, the brothers’ constant other than each other was their car — a 1967 Chevrolet model affectionately known as “Baby,” inherited from their father John, with army-men in the ashtrays and Sam and Dean’s initials carved in the back seat. Eric Kripke wrote an entire Season 5 episode (“Swan Song”) from the car’s perspective. Name the model.
✓ Correct! 1967 Chevrolet Impala — specifically the four-door Sport Sedan, originally chosen by Kripke because its trunk was big enough to hide a body. The production wore through more than two dozen Impalas across the run, since the car gets demolished, dunked, dropped from cliffs, and possessed regularly. Jensen Ackles bought the “hero” Impala used in the final season after the show wrapped in 2020.
✗ Wrong Chevy. The answer is the 1967 Impala, four-door Sport Sedan. The Camaro is too sporty — Kripke specifically wanted a body-in-the-trunk family sedan. The Chevelle SS is a muscle car, and the Bel Air is closer to ’50s-cool than ’60s-menace. The Impala is “Baby” — chosen because, in Kripke’s words, “it could fit four people and a body in the trunk.”
04
The Winchester brothers grew up on the road after their mother Mary was murdered — pinned to the ceiling and burned alive by the yellow-eyed demon Azazel — in Sam’s nursery on November 2, 1983. The family lived in a Midwestern college town the show returns to repeatedly across the run (most notably in “Home,” S1E9). Name the city.
✓ Correct! Lawrence, Kansas. Kripke chose the town in part because of its Wizard of Oz adjacency and the “Bleeding Kansas” historical resonance — Lawrence was sacked in 1856 during the pre-Civil-War conflict over slavery, an act of evil literally seared into the local geography. Mary Winchester’s nursery fire on November 2, 1983 is the show’s foundational trauma; the date and the ceiling-fire image recur all the way to the finale.
✗ Wrong Midwestern town. The answer is Lawrence, Kansas. Sioux Falls, SD is Bobby Singer’s hometown and salvage yard. Pontiac, IL is where Dean digs himself out of his own grave at the start of Season 4. Lebanon, KS is where the Men of Letters Bunker is hidden — you may want to remember that one. Lawrence is the home of the fire — and the show’s foundational trauma.
05
In the Season 4 premiere “Lazarus Rising,” the show pivoted from monster-of-the-week into Heaven-and-Hell mythology by introducing an angel of the Lord — wearing a beige trenchcoat over the body of a Pontiac, Illinois religious tax accountant named Jimmy Novak — who pulls Dean out of Hell and becomes the brothers’ near-permanent third. Played by Misha Collins, name the angel.
✓ Correct! Castiel — named for Cassiel, the Jewish-mystical angel of solitude and tears. Misha Collins was originally signed for a six-episode arc; Castiel ended up in 145 episodes across twelve seasons, including the controversial Season 15 “Despair” love-confession episode. The trenchcoat (a Burberry knock-off) became so iconic that fans send Collins replicas at conventions, and his on-screen vessel Jimmy Novak became its own minor character.
✗ Wrong angel. The answer is Castiel. Gabriel turns up later as the Trickster (Richard Speight Jr.). Uriel is Cas’s Season 4 angel partner, who gets killed off as a Lucifer sympathiser. Balthazar (Sebastian Roché) is Cas’s snarky friend introduced in Season 6. Castiel is the trenchcoat-wearing tax-accountant-vessel angel who pulls Dean out of Hell — and the show’s third lead from Season 4 onward.
06
Supernatural famously opted not to use a proper title-card theme — instead, every season finale opens with a “The Road So Far” recap montage scored to the same 1976 prog-rock track by an American band who, in a happy coincidence, share their name with the brothers’ home state. Name the song.
✓ Correct! “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas, off 1976’s Leftoverture. Eric Kripke chose it for the Season 1 finale and made it a tradition every finale thereafter. Kansas frontman Steve Walsh said in interviews that Supernatural’s use revived the song so completely it now makes more annual royalties from streaming than the band did from its 1976 release. The song also closes out the series finale “Carry On” (2020).
✗ Wrong classic-rock cue. The answer is “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas. Renegade, More Than a Feeling and Don’t Fear the Reaper are all Supernatural-vibe tracks from the same era and several appear in episodes — but the season-finale ritual is reserved for Kansas’s track. Wayward, Kansas, brothers… Kripke layered every available pun into the show’s signature musical cue.
07
The brothers’ surrogate father — a gruff, trucker-hat-wearing, Sioux Falls salvage-yard owner whose phone line is in every fake FBI agent’s wallet, who calls the boys “idjits,” and who takes a shotgun to a Leviathan in the Season 7 episode that finally kills him — is played by an actor who in HBO’s Deadwood played Whitney Ellsworth, the kindly miner who marries Alma Garret. Name the character.
✓ Correct! Bobby Singer, played by Jim Beaver. Eric Kripke literally named the character after his Supernatural co-executive-producer Robert Singer — in part as a gag, in part as a dare to write a self-aware character around the joke. Bobby dies at the end of Season 7’s “Death’s Door” (E10) but returns repeatedly in flashback, alternate universes, and in the show’s last few seasons as a parallel-Earth Bobby. Beaver’s Deadwood role is Ellsworth, who marries Alma and is shot dead by Hearst’s men.
✗ Wrong hunter. The answer is Bobby Singer. Rufus Turner (Steven Williams) is Bobby’s old-friend rival hunter. Garth Fitzgerald IV (DJ Qualls) is the goofier hunter who later turns out to be a werewolf. Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) is the Sioux Falls sheriff who becomes a found-family figure. Bobby is the salvage-yard idjit-caller, named for Kripke’s own co-EP Robert Singer.
08
In Season 8 (“As Time Goes By,” E12), the brothers discover their grandfather Henry Winchester was part of a secret academic-magic order, and inherit its abandoned base — a 1950s steel-and-concrete bunker hidden under an unassuming Kansas town’s main street that becomes their home for the rest of the series. The town has fewer than 250 people and is geographically near the centre of the contiguous United States. Name it.
✓ Correct! Lebanon, Kansas. Population fluctuates around 218 and a stone marker near town claims it as the geographic centre of the contiguous 48 states — perfect for an organisation hiding from the supernatural. The Men of Letters Bunker becomes the closest thing to a home base the brothers have ever had: kitchen, library, dungeon, garage. The real Lebanon’s Main Street has become a Supernatural pilgrimage site since the show ended in 2020.
✗ Wrong Kansas town. The answer is Lebanon — population 218, near the geographic centre of the contiguous US, perfect for a hidden order’s bunker. Topeka is the state capital. Wichita is the largest city. Manhattan is home to Kansas State University. Lebanon, with its tiny Main Street and middle-of-nowhere geography, is where the Men of Letters Bunker hides — and where the brothers finally have a home.
The Hunt · Family Verdict Your Winchester Standing
/ 8
Top hunter — or red-shirt vessel?
That dynamic, with Dean speaking to Castiel from the latest motel room he shares with Sam, became one of the defining aspects of the hunter and angel’s relationship throughout the series. Seeing it appear within the comic’s opening pages, paired with Castiel’s powerful declaration that “I chose the Winchesters,” is sure to hit longtime fans right in the feels. The moment perfectly captures the depth and intensity of Castiel’s bond with the brothers, particularly with Dean.
Based on this opening sequence and the official synopsis, it is clear that a significant portion of the special will focus on Castiel grappling with the consequences of choosing the Winchesters over Heaven, particularly the doubt it has introduced into his once-unshakable faith. As a result, the comic appears poised to deliver not only the chaotic humor that so often follows this trio, but also the emotional weight that made their relationship one of Supernatural’s most compelling dynamics.
Supernatural’s New Castiel Comic Perfectly Captures His Unique Bond With Dean Winchester
Main Cover by Pasquale Qualano for Supernatural Special: Castiel #1 (2026)
On top of the strong writing, the artwork is exceptional, capturing the actors’ likenesses while maintaining a distinctive style of its own. That sense of familiarity is sure to draw longtime fans in immediately, as the characters genuinely look and feel like the versions they remember from Supernatural. What is particularly impressive about Pasquale Qualano’s work, however, is how effectively he communicates Castiel’s relationship with the Winchester brothers through visual storytelling alone.
Although Castiel’s narration emphasizes that he chose the Winchesters and is committed to protecting both brothers, Qualano’s artwork subtly tells a more specific story. Even within the limited preview pages, Castiel’s attention is disproportionately focused on Dean. Fans of the series know just how canon-accurate this detail is, as Castiel and Dean shared a uniquely deep bond throughout the show, one that was distinct from Castiel’s relationship with Sam.
For Qualano to capture such a subtle yet crucial aspect of Castiel and Dean’s dynamic is the kind of detail that will have longtime fans pumping their fists in delight. More importantly, it helps anchor the comic firmly within the show’s continuity, making it feel like a genuine missing chapter. By preserving the character dynamics and emotional nuances that helped create one of television’s most passionate fandoms, this Supernatural special already feels like a worthy return to the world of the Winchesters.
Supernatural’s New Series Returns Dean & Sam to Their Greatest Era
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Supernatural Special: Castiel #1 from DYNAMITE will be available to read on June 10, 2026!
