Before the premiere of the long-awaited Supernatural prequel The Winchesters, it was confirmed that the show is getting a super-powered punch-up from former Superman and star of Smallville Tom Welling. Welling's role on the show was revealed when the actor made a surprise appearance on the show's panel at New York Comic Con.
The show comes from Supernatural producer and writer Robbie Thompson and Dean Winchester himself Jensen Ackles, alongside his wife Danneel Ackles. The Winchesters will tell the story of how John and Mary Winchester, parents of Sam and Dean, met and married all while saving the world. The show will be narrated by Jensen Ackles as Dean.
According to Deadline, Welling will take on the role of Samuel Campbell, Mary's (Meg Donnelly) father and grandfather of Sam and Dean. For those unfamiliar, Samuel appeared in the original series played by Mitch Pileggi where it was revealed that it was actually Mary who came from a family of hunters and taught John Winchester (Drake Rodger) everything he knew about hunting things that go bump in the night. Welling is already well known and loved by fans of The CW from his time playing teenage Clark Kent in Smallville.
Smallville charted the high school years of Superman before he was Superman and also gave history to his rivalry with arch-nemesis Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). Welling's time on Smallville led to him appearing in all 217 episodes, making him the actor who has spent the longest time playing the Kryptonian. When asked about the casting of Welling, Thompson said, "Jensen and Danneel brought up the idea of Tom Welling, and the second his name was mentioned we all knew he was the perfect person for the part. Tom is a fantastic actor and wonderful human, and we are so excited to be welcoming him to The Winchesters and the Supernatural Family."
The Winchesters is executive produced by Jensen and Danneel Ackles through their company Chaos Machine Productions, while Robbie Thompson acts as showrunner and executive producer. The Supernatural prequel series marks part of Ackles' overall deal with WBTV. The Winchesters also marks the second current show from The CW to feature Welling, as he next appears in the drama series Professionals. The actor has also signed on to appear in the action thriller film Deep Six.
The Winchesters airs on Tuesday on The CW.
Source: Deadline