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Supernaturalcertainly raised its stakes over the years. Starting the series off with a mere demon being the main antagonist, this drastically changes around the final seasons, with God, the Darkness, and a secret elite order of hunters called the Men of Letters. Considering how smooth the progression has been, fans cannot help but adore how far the Winchester brothers came from hunting a yellow-eyed demon.
However, one of the most iconic and beloved jumps that the series took when it came to stakes was when Castiel was introduced. Going from a pessimistic setting to suddenly finding out that angels were real and very socially awkward certainly did wonders for the brothers and the story itself.
With this, one cannot help but wonder where showrunner Eric Kripke got this idea from. During an interview, he confessed that the roots were, in fact, in theStar Warsfranchise.
Angels were not a big jump from demons inSupernatural
Angels inSupernaturalcertainly came as a very big shift in the series. They were threatening and cruel when they had blades in their hands while being aloof and confused when they didn’t. Castiel became the perfect example of this, coming as a temporary character but staying till the very end and falling in love with one of the main characters.
During an interview with theChicago Tribune(viaThe Winchester Family Business),Eric Kripkerevealed how he ended up getting the idea of bringing angels into the series. He confessed that although they had always planned to go down route demon as the seasons progressed, they felt somewhat stupid that they did not think of angels sooner.
We always had the demon plan [for the seasons as they progressed], but the angels came in, and it was one of those things where it’s like, if anything, we felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner — because how do you have demons without angels?
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He mentioned they were planning a grand battle in the series, but realized that it could not be the demon army versus the Winchesters, as they would very easily lose. It would have also been costly for theshow’s limited budgetto have such large-scale fights. Bringing angels in would perfectly solve this problem and bring in a completely new level of stakes for the characters—the apocalypse.
Suddenly, when you bring in the other army, now you have these two massive armies of demons and angels — they can mesh and clash in a way that’s really satisfying, and [you may have the giant clashes] just off camera.
Kripke mentioned that their addition to the series would bring in space for a very satisfying clash that could help aid the problem they were having in the best way possible.
Star Warshas had a very big impact onSupernatural
Eric Kripke further explained thatStar Warswas another perfect example of whySupernaturalshould have gone down the angels’ path far sooner. He mentioned the Empire and the rebellion’s battles, pointing out that he was the planner for a similar dynamic. He wanted two very powerful entities fighting each other while a group of people with shifting loyalties were stuck in the middle of it.
We slap our forehead against our hands, and say, “Why didn’t we think of it sooner?” Like, look at “Star Wars” for a moment. You have this massive empire and you have this massive rebellion. And they were having these massive battles over countless planets. But the story is about one farm boy, a princess and a pirate.
Interestingly enough, this was not the first parallel that Kripke made between his beloved series and the Disney classic. On the occasion of the 300th episode of the series, the showrunner and creatorrevealed his original pitchfor the show, and it is quite interesting.
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He made comparisons to classics likeRoute 66, X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,and other classics. However, his biggest pitch was that of theStar Warselement. Kripke described the story as “Star Warsin Truck Stop America,” making it the basis of his entire story.
He described Sam Winchester’s character to be like Luke Skywalker and Dean Winchester to be his Han Solo. The original pitch was certainly much different from what the show ended up being. However, the characters and their traits seemed to have stuck around.
Supernaturalis available for streaming on Netflix.
Ananya Godboley
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2219
Ananya Godboley is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows, with over 2,000 articles published. She has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years. Currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in psychology from K.R. Mangalam University, Ananya also likes to fangirl as a full-time job. She covers news and analyses on anything from Rick and Morty to Hannibal and even Arcane. In between these lines, she also enjoys superheroes and Taylor Swift.A philosophy enthusiast, Ananya enjoys digging deeper into the media she consumes, trying to understand the root of her favorite characters' behavior.
