The CW Orders Pilots For ‘Gotham Knights’, ‘Supernatural’ & ‘Walker’ Spin-Offs
US network The CW has placed three pilot orders, all of which are connected to other popular franchises from the network it has been announced – ‘Supernatural’, ‘Walker’, and a new DC Comics series.
First up is ‘The Winchesters’, a prequel series focused on John and Mary, Sam and Dean’s parents. The series will be told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), and is the epic, untold love story of how John met Mary and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.
Jensen and Danneel Ackles executive produce through their company, Chaos Machine Productions, which is under an overall deal with WBTV who made the original series, and will co-produce. The potential series will be written and produced by Robbie Thompson, former co-executive producer of ‘Supernatural’.
Rumours of this series caused some ruffled feathers back went the news originally leaked out that it was in development back in June last year. Jensen, being somewhat superstitious talking about projects which might not land, had yet to mention to his on-screen brother, Jared Padalecki, that they were working on the pilot, which was still in very early development at the time. This led to Jared tweeting it was “news to him…” followed by a very apologetic phone call from Jenson. Don’t worry, they’re all good, and it was all smoothed out. You can hear him talk about it in the video below from Michael Rosenbaum’s ‘Inside of You’ podcast.
Sticking with the former ‘Supernatural’ stars, the next pilot is a spin-off from ‘Walker’, Jared Padalecki’s current show. ‘Walker: Independence’ is also a prequel, set in the late 1800s, and follows Abby Walker 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, 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. Our 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.
Padalecki serves as exec producer, with ‘Walker’ showrunner Anna Fricke and Co-EP Seamus Fahey set to also EP and co-wrote the pilot.
Lastly comes ‘Gotham Knights’, from Arrowverse’s Berlanti Productions, which is created by three ‘Batwoman’ writers, although is not a spin-off series.
Set in the wake of Bruce Wayne’s murder, his rebellious adopted son forges an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies when they are all framed for killing the Caped Crusader. 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 saviours known as the Gotham Knights.
What is unclear is which “adopted son” will be getting the lead role… Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, or Jason Todd (with Damian Wayne presumably being out of the mix, due to him being Bruce’s blood relative, not adopted). Jason would seem to fit the “rebellious” tag more than the others, but we’ll have to wait and see. We also don’t know if this will be connected to any of the existing DC properties, either on The CW, or HBO Max where Dick, Tim and Jason have all been portrayed in ‘Titans’.
The project comes from Natalie Abrams, James Stoteraux, and Chad Fiveash, who all worked on ‘Batwoman’. Stoteraux and Fiveash exec produce along with Berlanti Productions Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden. Abrams co-executive produces.
‘The Winchesters’, ‘Walker: Independence’, and ‘Gotham Knights’ are all only pilot orders, so may not go to series, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
