Is There a Nod to Castiel in The Winchesters' Pilot Episode?
The Supernatural fandom has been going crazy about the idea of Castiel returning in the prequel after being killed off in the final season of the original show.
Warning: the following article contains spoilers for The Winchesters pilot episode
The newly-released pilot episodes of The Winchesters — a long-awaited Supernatural prequel from Jensen Ackles — has already given viewers more questions than answers. However, some fans already believe that at least one mystery of the first episode may indicate that a certain big name will be coming back in the prequel, confirming earlier speculations about his return.
At the beginning of the episode, shortly after young John Winchester meets Mary, his future love, for the first time, he is mysteriously handed a letter and a key from Henry Winchester. And holy trench coat, who could have given those to John?..
"Hmm a man John had never seen before showed up out of nowhere, gave him the key and disappeared into thin air…perhaps like a certain trench coated feathery friend who has a tendency to do that kind of thing." - @AbnormalAmanda
Not everyone is ready to agree that it was Castiel's deed, however.
"Well I'm putting my bets down now, that "the Man" in question is either a Cupid, Castiel or Yellow-Eyes in a vessel. Let's not forget, Yellow-Eyes can seemingly jump around time and has been interested in the Campbell's and the MOL [Men of Letters] for a long time," Twitter fan Phoenix_Ranger2 argued.
Still, fans seem to already be confident that the show is explicitly hinting at Castiel's potential return. Or else why would Misha Collins, the actor who portrayed the awkward angel in the original show, be so active in promoting the prequel?
Feels like a very deliberate choice of words:
Before the prequel's premiere, fans were going insane about what they thought was a sequence of Castiel's notorious barn entrance in the show's trailer — something that definitely made no sense in The Winchesters, unless it was a hint at the angel's comeback.
The Winchesters has been surrounded by mystery — not only regarding the possibility of Castiel's return but also the way things work in this story. It is still not clear whether the prequel is retconning the original show and the established story of John and Mary Winchester, or if Jensen Ackles decided to go for full multiverse mode and explore alternative storylines without officially ditching the canon.
New episodes will air on The CW every Tuesday, with the length of the season still to be clarified.