The first Star Wars movie in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, was effectively wiped out at the box office by the massively successful horror hits Obsession and Backrooms. The two horror movies cost less than $1 million and $10 million, respectively, and have grossed more than $300 million worldwide each. In fact, The Mandalorian and Grogu is poised to ultimately finish its theatrical run as the lowest-grossing film of the three, even though it cost a reported $165 million to produce and millions more to market. The new Star Wars movie also happens to be the lowest-grossing installment of the legendary franchise, and has virtually no chance of outgrossing Solo: A Star Wars Story, which made around $390 million worldwide in 2018. However, an even bigger sci-fi Western bomb was released back in 1999, and is now streaming for free.

The movie in question cost a reported $170 million and grossed around $220 million worldwide. It was headlined by Will Smith, who infamously passed on The Matrix to star in it. Smith had recently been crowned the biggest star of the 1990s, thanks to hits such as Bad Boys, Men in Black, and Independence Day. The 1999 movie reunited him with his Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld, and also features Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek, and Kenneth Branagh.

Here’s Where You Can Watch Will Smith’s Sci-Fi Western

We’re talking, of course, about Wild Wild West. The movie was inspired by a television series from the 1960s, and written by three pairs of writers. Wild Wild West was heavily marketed by Warner Bros., but it opened to extremely poor reviews. The movie now holds a 16% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Bombastic, manic, and largely laugh-free, Wild Wild West is a bizarre misfire in which greater care was lavished upon the special effects than on the script.” Smith later expressed regret about choosing the movie over The Matrix, which was critically acclaimed and massively successful at the box office. In a YouTube video, Smith admitted that he isn’t proud of underestimating the Wachowskis and said, “If I had done it — because I’m Black — then Morpheus wouldn’t have been Black because they were looking at Val Kilmer. I was going to be Neo and Val Kilmer was going to be Morpheus. I probably would’ve messed The Matrix up, I would’ve ruined it. So I did y’all a favor.” You can watch Wild Wild West on Tubi, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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Release Date

June 30, 1999

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Runtime

106 minutes

Writers

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Brent Maddock, Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, S.S. Wilson, Jim Thomas, John Thomas

Producers

Jon Peters

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A perfectly written trilogy has to do something brutal: make three separate films feel satisfying on their own while also making the whole thing richer when viewed as one long design. The first film cannot feel like a pilot. The second cannot exist only to delay resolution. The third cannot just tidy the room and call it closure.

The best trilogy writing creates pressure across years. A line gains new meaning later. A character’s early flaw becomes their punishment. And more. These eight trilogies understand long-form cinema at the deepest level, and the writing in each one has a different kind of perfection. Lock in and I’ll explain why.

8

‘The Koker Trilogy’ (1987–1994)

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A boy returning a notebook should not be enough to carry an entire film, yet Where Is the Friend’s House? turns that tiny act into one of cinema’s purest moral adventures. Ahmad (Babak Ahmed Poor) knows his classmate may be punished if the notebook stays with him, and that single responsibility sends him through adult indifference, village routines, repeated refusals, and the frightening loneliness of being a child who understands urgency better than the grown-ups around him.

Then Abbas Kiarostami expands the idea of responsibility in ways that feel almost impossible on paper. And Life Goes On follows a filmmaker searching for the children from the first film after the 1990 earthquake, turning the earlier fiction into a doorway toward real devastation and survival. Through the Olive Trees then folds cinema back into life again through Hossein (Hossein Rezai)’s quiet pursuit of Tahereh (Tahereh Ladanian) during a film shoot. The trilogy’s writing keeps asking how stories continue after the camera leaves. It finds drama in duty, curiosity, persistence, and unanswered feeling.

7

‘The Cornetto Trilogy’ (2004–2013)

Image via Rogue Pictures

The joke with this trilogy is that people remember the jokes first, which is fair, because the jokes are absurdly precise. The greater writing achievement is how Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg build three comedies where the punchlines, genre mechanics, character immaturity, and emotional payoff all keep feeding each other. Shaun of the Dead uses Shaun (Simon Pegg)’s zombie rules to expose his refusal to grow up. Hot Fuzz turns Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg)’s action-movie obsession into a story about friendship, community rot, and one man learning to loosen his grip. The World’s End weaponizes nostalgia against Gary King (Simon Pegg) and the exact people who keep pretending the past was their best self.

Every film has comic architecture that rewards rewatching. Throwaway lines become plot devices. Pub names, background details, repeated phrases, and awkward social habits all return with purpose. Gary’s tragedy in The World’s End cuts so sharply because the trilogy has already trained viewers to laugh at arrested development before showing the damage underneath it. Shaun, Nicholas, and Gary are very different men, yet all three are trapped by a version of themselves they mistake for identity. That is brilliant comic writing: the laugh gets there first, then the ache follows.

6

‘Back to the Future Trilogy’ (1985–1990)

Image via Universal Pictures

Time-travel stories usually collapse under their own rules once sequels start stacking complications. Back to the Future somehow turns complication into pleasure. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale write the first film with near-perfect cause and effect: Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) changes one night in 1955, endangers his own existence, forces his parents toward each other, and learns enough about courage to change the family he returns to. The plot is tight, funny, emotional, and ridiculously efficient.

The sequels take that original design and keep remixing it without losing the audience. Part II makes the first movie’s timeline feel like a playground and a trap at once, using alternate 1985, future Hill Valley, and the 1955 overlap with almost comic mathematical confidence. Part III shifts to the Old West and gives Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) the romantic test Marty already had in another form: the temptation to break time for love. The trilogy is so satisfying because the writing understands repetition as variation. Clocks, cars, photographs, bullies, dances, accidents, family shame, and personal courage keep returning in new shapes until Marty’s final growth feels cleanly earned.

5

‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ (2005–2012)

Image via Warner Bros.

Batman has been rewritten so many times that another origin story could have felt pointless. Batman Begins solves that by treating Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale)’s mission as a set of ideas under construction: fear, justice, theatricality, discipline, symbol-making, and the danger of becoming too useful to one’s own pain. The script gives Bruce a reason for every piece of Batman, then surrounds him with people who challenge different parts of the myth: Alfred (Michael Caine)’s love, Gordon (Gary Oldman)’s decency, Rachel (Katie Holmes)’ moral line, and Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson)’s extremism.

The Dark Knight is the trilogy’s writing peak because it turns Batman’s symbol into a public crisis. The Joker (Heath Ledger) attacks rules, stories, institutions, and self-image. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) becomes the clean hope Bruce wanted the city to choose instead of Batman, which makes his fall more than a villain turn. The Dark Knight Rises has rougher plotting, but its core idea still completes the written arc: a man who built his life around sacrifice has to learn the difference between dying for a symbol and living beyond it. The trilogy earns its place because its best writing treats superhero mythology as an argument with consequences.

4

‘The Apu Trilogy’ (1955–1959)

Image via Aurora Film Corporation

The writing in The Apu Trilogy has an almost dangerous amount of trust in ordinary life. It’s like the Indian version of Boyhood but spread over three films and much better and fleshed out. Pather Panchali does not hurry childhood into a clean lesson. Apu (Subir Banerjee) watches Durga (Uma Dasgupta), his mother Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee), his father Harihar (Kanu Banerjee), their aging relative Indir (Chunibala Devi), the village, the rain, the trains, the hunger, and the small pleasures that make poverty even more painful because beauty still keeps appearing. The film’s story grows through observation, which is harder than plot mechanics and far rarer.

Aparajito understands the cruelty of becoming yourself. Apu’s education gives him a future, but that future costs his mother the nearness she needs. The writing never turns either side into a villain. That emotional fairness continues in Apur Sansar, where Apu (Soumitra Chatterjee)’s unexpected marriage to Aparna (Sharmila Tagore) becomes tender through small adjustments, shared embarrassment, and domestic discovery. When loss breaks him, the trilogy refuses easy nobility. Apu fails as a father before he can return as one. Satyajit Ray and his collaborators write a life, not a résumé of events. Childhood, ambition, love, grief, guilt, and reconciliation all unfold with devastating simplicity.

3

‘The Lord of the Rings Trilogy’ (2001–2003)

Image via New Line/courtesy Everett Collection

Adapting J.R.R. Tolkien could have gone wrong in a thousand directions. The writing team of Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson had to condense an enormous literary world without reducing it to lore delivery. Their greatest decision was emotional prioritization. Every kingdom, object, battle, creature, and prophecy is filtered through a character need: Frodo (Elijah Wood)’s burden, Sam (Sean Astin)’s loyalty, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen)’s fear of inheritance, Boromir (Sean Bean)’s weakness, Gollum (Andy Serkis)’s divided self, Éowyn (Miranda Otto)’s hunger for dignity, Faramir (David Wenham)’s need for his father’s love, Théoden (Bernard Hill)’s return to courage.

The trilogy keeps giving each storyline its own moral test. Frodo’s mercy toward Gollum later becomes the only reason the quest can succeed. Sam’s plainspoken devotion grows from comic warmth into the trilogy’s strongest expression of grace. Aragorn’s reluctance has to become responsibility rather than pose. Even smaller choices carry weight because the scripts keep linking private character decisions to the fate of the world. The writing also knows when to let language feel old and when to keep it direct. For a trilogy this huge, the emotional logic stays shockingly clear. Middle-earth survives on structure, sacrifice, and character payoff more than scale.

2

‘The Before Trilogy’ (1995–2013)

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The terrifying thing about writing The Before Trilogy is that there is almost nowhere to hide. No mystery plot rescues a weak exchange. No spectacle interrupts a false line. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) have to talk, and the writing has to make every digression feel like attraction, defense, curiosity, flirtation, philosophy, fear, memory, or resentment. Before Sunrise captures the way young people perform intelligence while accidentally revealing themselves. They are sincere and ridiculous at once, which is exactly why the romance feels real.

Before Sunset is even more precise because every sentence carries the ghost of the conversation they failed to continue for nine years. Jesse and Céline talk about marriage, work, politics, sex, memory, and disappointment while slowly admitting that Vienna never ended for either of them. Before Midnight is the bravest writing of the three. It lets the same verbal chemistry curdle into marital combat, then keeps enough tenderness alive to make the damage frightening. Richard Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy write love as conversation across time. The trilogy is nearly perfect because the words change age with the people speaking them.

1

‘The Three Colours Trilogy’ (1993–1994)

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No trilogy on this list has a more elegant writing challenge than Three Colours: three films inspired by liberty, equality, and fraternity, each separate, each emotionally complete, each quietly connected. Krzysztof Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz never treat those ideals like slogans. They test them inside grief, humiliation, loneliness, sex, pride, chance, music, law, and human connection until each concept becomes painfully personal.

Blue gives Julie (Juliette Binoche) the freedom she thinks she wants after losing her husband and child, then shows how impossible total detachment becomes when memory, music, and unfinished love keep returning. White treats equality through Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski)’s wounded masculinity after divorce, turning humiliation into a bitter, funny, morally complicated revenge story. Red is the trilogy’s miracle because Valentine (Irène Jacob) and the retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) create a bond built from attention rather than romance, and the film’s coincidences feel emotional instead of mechanical. The ferry ending ties the trilogy together without reducing its mysteries. This one, therefore, is a top-notch, perfectly written trilogy filmmaking because the design is visible only after the feelings have already reached you.

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Three Colors: Blue

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Release Date

September 8, 1993

Runtime

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98 minutes

Director

Krzysztof Kieślowski

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Writers

Krzysztof Piesiewicz

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Quantity is not more important than quality when talking about great television, especially when thrillers are concerned. Too many shows extend past their natural length and become bloated with unnecessary subplots and storylines, meaning that they become harder to recommend because of the significant time commitment required. Alternatively, shows that are short and pointed have the opportunity to age even better because they feel like standalone works of art.

Television has begun to resemble films, more and more, and a short-run show or miniseries can have the auteur-led artistic qualities of a cinematic release, yet also have the length to tell its story to the best of its abilities. It’s a medium that has become more exciting as this current era of prestige television continues, as it seems to be what attracts the most A-list talent to do their best work. For viewers looking for gripping stories that never overstay their welcome, these thriller shows with 20 episodes or fewer deliver unforgettable suspense from beginning to end.

10

‘The Curse’ (2023–2024)

Image via Showtime

The Curse is a fascinating psychological thriller that was conceived by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, two brilliant creatives who have nonetheless taken very different approaches to their careers. Fielder also stars in the series alongside Emma Stone as a couple that hosts an HGTV-style reality home-flipping show and begins to experience paranoia about a curse after getting involved in building a sustainable living business in a Hispanic community.

The Curse finds the right mix of dark comedy and social commentary, as it explores the plasticity of reality television, the delusion of white progressivism, the threat of gentrification, and the interiority of a disturbed marriage. The series is a favorite of Christopher Nolan, who claimed that the show’s mind-blowing finale was among the greatest things he had ever seen on television, a belief that is shared by those who have experienced the wild turn that The Curse takes.

9

‘Lonesome Dove’ (1989)

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Lonesome Dove is perhaps the greatest Western ever made, and certainly holds up when compared to any of the classic films made in the genre. Based on the beloved novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry, the show stars Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones as two aging cowboys who take on one last drive, which forces them to consider their lives and rethink their personal relationships.

Lonesome Dove was made at a time in which “event television” was still a novelty, and it was exciting to see such a full-bodied, articulate Western made on such a grandiose scale. Even for those who aren’t traditionally fans of the Western genre, Lonesome Dove is made with such care and moves at such a propulsive pace that it is hard not to be completely swept up in the spirit of adventure.

8

‘Escape at Dannemora’ (2018)

Image via Showtime

Escape at Dannemora is a brilliant miniseries directed in its entirety by Ben Stiller before he would go on to flex his muscles as a dramatic storyteller with the Apple TV science fiction series Severance. Escape at Dannemora stars Paul Dano and Benicio del Toro as two inmates at a high-security prison who plot an escape, all while conducting a relationship with a facility worker played by Patricia Arquette.

Escape at Dannemora does a better job of showing the integrity of a life behind bars than nearly any other show, and manages to continue heightening the tension as it questions the ethics of the characters and their relationship. The series finale runs for 100 minutes in length, and stands alone as Stiller’s finest work as a director and one of the most nerve-inducing works of electrifying TV in recent memory.

7

‘Ripley’ (2024)

Image via Netflix

Ripley is the most recent adaptation of the popular Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, and it’s unique when compared to the other versions because it ages up the characters and is shot in black-and-white. The stunning visuals of the series, which were created by the Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswitt of There Will Be Blood fame, allowed it to become a moody noir where the audience is able to get inside the mind of a psychopathic killer.

Andrew Scott is nothing short of remarkable as Tom Ripley, as he is able to draw out the repulsive side of the character whilst also making his journey fascinating to watch. The series is a perfect adaptation of the first of Highsmith’s novels, but there is always room for expansion if Scott and showrunner Steven Zaillian want to make their version of some of the sequel novels.

6

‘The Dropout’ (2022)

Image via Hulu

The Dropout is based on the stranger-than-fiction true story of Elizabeth Holmes, an entrepreneur whose seemingly game-changing medical technology company came burning to the ground when it was revealed to be entirely based on fraudulent claims and misconstrued medical research. The Dropout is a thriller about her dramatic rise and fall, and explores how a whistleblower in the case revealed a secret that caused all of her high-profile sponsors to question their investments.

The Dropout is worth watching as a feat of education because it so thoroughly deconstructs a scandal that should scare everyone, but it also features Amanda Seyfried in what may be the best role of her career, as she completely captures all of Holmes’ mannerisms in an almost eerie way. The entire cast is stacked with great actors, including Ebon Moss-Bacrach as the reporter who broke the story.

5

‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’ (2026)

Image via Netflix

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is a terrific miniseries produced by the Duffer brothers that is bound to become a Halloween favorite in the years to come. Although there are some aspects of psychological thrillers that are present in Stranger Things, the series for which the Duffer brothers became most famous, This Is Going to Hurt is a spooky work of folk horror that succeeds by fleshing out a mythology behind a secret family history.

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen isn’t just creepy because of the graphic blood and gore that is featured, but because it has a disturbing depiction of what a nightmarish situation of meeting a partner’s family looks like. Although weddings are often used as the center point for feats of horror, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ends with a shocking sequence that is one for the ages.

4

‘The Little Drummer Girl’ (2018)

Image via BBC One

The Little Drummer Girl is an adaptation of the popular Cold War spy novel by the brilliant author John le Carré, and it was directed in its entirety by the legendary South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. Set in 1979 during the aftermath of the Black Monday attacks, the series follows an Israeli spymaster (Michael Shannon) and a Mossad agent (Alexander Skarsgård) as they recruit a left-wing theater actress (Florence Pugh) to go undercover to infiltrate a dangerous terrorist cell that could be putting innocent lives in danger.

The Little Drummer Girl mines all the complexity of Cold War-era espionage to be completely riveting, all whilst exploring complex themes about the nature of identity and the burdens of holding a double life. Although it is completely satisfying as a thriller, The Little Drummer Girl is also a loaded piece of political commentary that features terrific performances from its three leads.

3

‘This Is Going to Hurt’ (2022)

Image via BBC

This Is Going to Hurt is a brilliant British miniseries based on the true story of the OBGYN doctor Adam Clay, who also created the series that was based on his own memoir. Ben Whishaw stars as Clay during a particularly difficult period in his career, where he was attempting to deal with internal investigations from the medical board whilst protecting the physical and emotional health of his staff, many of whom were under serious duress.

This Is Going to Hurt offers a propulsive look at what being in an emergency room looks like, and does for Great Britain what The Pitt did for the United States. Although Whishaw is an actor who always gives great performances, This Is Going to Hurt has a clever framing device in which he breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience, making it even more personal.

2

‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ (2022)

Image via Hulu

Under the Banner of Heaven is a true crime masterpiece that explores one of the darkest chapters in the history of America’s extremist religious crimes, as it is based on a shocking massacre committed by a fundamentalist sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the series could have come off as completely anti-organized religion, it is able to have a fleshed-out perspective because it follows the point of view of a Mormon police officer, played by Andrew Garfield in one of his best roles, who questions the fundamentals of his faith in the wake of shocking truths.

Under the Banner of Heaven is meticulously crafted as a character drama and takes an unflinching look at the abuses carried out in the name of God, making it a timely work of historical recreation that deserves to be recognized among the best in the genre’s recent history.

1

‘1883’ (2021–2022)

Image via Paramount+

1883 is the best show that Taylor Sheridan has ever made and serves as a prequel to the entire Yellowstone saga by exploring the journey to settle what would become Dutton Ranch. Although it has the snappy dialogue that is to be expected of Sheridan at this point, 1883 is a full-blooded Western in the classical sense and makes use of its lavish settings to create a grand and sweeping adventure.

1883 is the most personal and constrained of Sheridan’s shows, and the intimate focus on a small group of characters shows the dexterity of his writing. Although it has a setup that establishes what would become the defining narrative in 1923, 1883 also functions as a standalone adventure epic that can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of how familiar they are with the trappings of the broader Yellowstone franchise.

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1883

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Release Date

2021 – 2022-00-00

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Network

Paramount+

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Showrunner

Ron Burkle

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Miranda Priestly probably wouldn’t tolerate Angelina Jolie’s character from Couture, a new drama set in the world of high fashion that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025. Jolie plays Maxine, an indie filmmaker who’s been hired to bring her brand of transgressive edginess to a promotional short for Paris Fashion Week. With neither the patience nor the experience for promotional work, Maxine can barely mask her contempt for her new gig — and that’s before a call from her doctor flips her world upside down.

Couture couldn’t be further removed from the glossy world of this summer’s fashion world-set blockbuster The Devil Wears Prada 2. And while that movie makes excuses for the same industry that Couture wants to dress down, director Alice Winocour’s attempt to offer a ground-level perspective of an industry that has been glamorized for far too long turns out dull, directionless, and mildly delusional.

What Is ‘Couture’ About?

Maxine has a lot on her plate at the film’s start: she’s going through a divorce that has alienated her teenage daughter from her, and most of her attention is devoted to her new movie, a passion project that’s barely a month away from entering production. She also has bills to pay. While she’s risen through the ranks of independent genre cinema and hit a creative peak with a gritty vampire movie, there’s obviously not enough money in the film festival Midnight Madness sections that she has seemingly been dominating. It’s a clever decision to not cover up Jolie’s many tattoos; they give Maxine a necessary edge that communicates more about her than three pages of expository dialogue could. Despite describing the fashion industry as “useless but necessary,” Maxine is determined to perform her duties at Paris Fashion Week and continue her real career with a much-needed financial infusion.

Her problems transform when her doctor informs her that she has breast cancer and that she needs to undergo surgery immediately. As if her disdain for the vanity surrounding her hadn’t hit a boiling point already, Maxine is given a new reason to question the choices that have led her to Paris in the first place.

Jolie is unsurprisingly very good in the lead role, injecting Maxine with emotional maturity that she herself has seemingly developed during the course of a life that unfolded in public. Even when Maxine is hit with the devastating revelation about her health, she doesn’t spiral in the way you’d think. Jolie’s talent and experience are perhaps the only things that save her from falling into the holes that the script insists on digging around her.

‘Couture’ Short-Changes Its Protagonist and Supporting Characters

Maxine isn’t the only character not given the depth she deserves by the script. Couture surrounds its protagonist with a handful of other young women trying to get by in the ruthless field they’ve chosen. The problem is that none of these underwritten supporting characters are given much to do, other than to serve as a stereotype of some kind. There’s a woman from South Sudan (Anyier Anei) who’s handpicked by Maxine to star in the promotional film; there’s also a seamstress (Garance Marillier) who wields her scissors with the seriousness of a samurai with a katana, and a makeup artist (Ella Rumpf) trying to sell a tell-all about the fashion industry. As if Winocour hadn’t overpopulated her movie already, she throws Louis Garrel into the mix as Maxine’s cinematographer, who is tragically reduced to an object who makes himself available for sex whenever Maxine needs it. Each of them barely have any interactions with Maxine, which leaves you with the impression that you’re watching characters who’ve stepped out of other movies into this one.

They’re also done no favors by a weak screenplay. While a significant chunk of Couture is set in French, the English-language portions can’t help but feel as if they were translated poorly, a situation that becomes more obvious in the scenes that Jolie isn’t involved in.

A Failed Critique of Two Industries

Couture wants to have its gown and wear it, too. Well-known as many of its supporting cast members are — Raw breakout Marillier is knowingly written into another scene that involves blood — let’s not forget that the film’s protagonist is played by perhaps one of the most famous people on the planet. The decision to cast a movie star can never be limited to their talents as a performer; they bring their own baggage to every role, and that’s partially what filmmakers are hiring them for. In movies like Couture, the parallels are all too obvious.

Couture poses as a rare character drama centered on a middle-aged woman. But while Maxine is a complex character, Couture isn’t a character study. Instead, Winocour (who has made memorable movies about complex women before) goes for a critique of the fashion and film industries that ultimately has little to say about either. Both its halves seem to work overtime to undermine each other. Maxine, on the other hand, seems to exist in a universe of her own, isolated by both the film and her fate. She wouldn’t describe the movie as entirely useless, but it most certainly isn’t necessary either.

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Release Date

June 26, 2026

Runtime

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106 minutes

Director

Alice Winocour

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Writers

Alice Winocour

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Producers

Angelina Jolie, Charles Gillibert, William Horberg, Zhang Xin

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Pros & Cons

• Angelina Jolie delivers an emotionally restrained, mature performance as a filmmaker dealt a terrible blow.

• Much of the dialogue is jarring, unnatural, and expository.
• The movie spreads itself too thin by introducing more characters that it can service.
• It has little of worth to say about either the fashion or film industries.
• All attempts at cultural commentary come at the cost of character development.

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When Supernatural finally ended after 15 seasons, it was a bit bittersweet. On one hand, the show had actively run its course on The CW. The series had sort of lost itself near the end, concluding with a standalone hunt that kills off Dean (Jensen Ackles) and gives us a glimpse at Sam’s (Jared Padalecki) future. On the other hand, Supernatural is the type of show that feels like it could (from a creative standpoint) live forever if only it refocused on what made it great in the first place. Indeed, not only do fans want the Winchester brothers to return for more, but many of the cast members (main and recurring alike) are still jonesing for more after all this time — there’s only one thing getting in the way.

The ‘Supernatural’ Cast Wants To Return for More

For years now, Ackles and Padalecki have made it clear that they are looking for ways to bring Supernatural back. You don’t have to go very far to find some convention clip or interview quote of the pair (or any of the show’s long-time guests) waxing poetic about what they would like to see if the Winchesters came back for more. But if there’s one thing that’s consistent about their thoughts on a Supernatural return — besides their shared desire for a shortened episode count and Ackles’ hopes that the Winchesters will come back True Detective-style — it’s that it has to be the right time and the right way.

“If and when Supernatural comes back, it’s going to be a labor of love, and we’re gonna put every hour in to make sure that it’s as true to the canon and to the fandom and to the story and to the characters as possible,” Padalecki told Collider back in 2024. “I just don’t know when I’m available. I don’t know when he’s available. But again, my answer is yes.” Of course, since then, the pair have reunited on not one but two television projects, appearing opposite Misha Collins on The Boys for an impromptu Supernatural reunion and again as themselves on a recent episode of The Rookie. At this point, all Supernatural is lacking is a clear direction and a little bit of time. As Ackles told Collider last summer in an in-depth profile:

“It sounds like Amazon’s going to have to come up with an idea on that one, because they’re controlling my schedule right now. But look, we’ve talked about our love for the show. We continue to talk about it. We continue to do conventions and fan appearances and stuff, and talk about it. I feel like it’s one of those things where, if it happens, then let’s go.”

Busy schedules are certainly the main factor here. Padalecki had been focused on The CW’s Walker for several years there before it was axed in 2024, and Ackles’ schedule is currently managed by Amazon. Aside from his recent work on both The Boys and the short-lived Countdown, he’s now headlining the former’s prequel series Vought Rising. It’s clear that the Supernatural stars are itching to work together again and reunite on the small screen as Sam and Dean. Right now, the closest thing we’ve gotten to a genuine Winchester revival is the recent Dynamite Entertainment comic series set during the first season.

Could Prime Video Find a Way To Resurrect ‘Supernatural’?

While the stars of the hit horror/dark fantasy series are primed and ready for more, whether there is more Supernatural is ultimately up to the folks at Prime Video. Aside from needing to clear Ackles’ schedule, the program’s new streaming home could be the perfect place to bring the Winchesters back for a limited run, maybe in the same vein as The X-Files‘ shortened revival seasons. Given that series creator Eric Kripke already has a shorthand with the streamer, perhaps a pitch from the man who brought them The Boys would spark some interest. Back before the superhero deconstruction ended, Kripke had expressed to Collider his interest in seeing more Supernatural:

“Of course, I’d want to see it. Whether I’m a part of it depends on, could I find something fresh about it that I have never seen before? Obviously, I’ve told a lot of those stories, but if there was something out there that really surprised me, I love that universe, and I’d be interested in looking at that. It’s tricky to find what story in that universe hasn’t been told, but if someone can find one, I’m all in, baby.”

While Supernatural itself is owned by Warner Bros. Television, this wouldn’t be the company’s first collaboration with Amazon. After all, Batman: Caped Crusader is a DC/WB property that has found its way to Prime Video, so there is certainly some precedent there. Of course, Warner Bros. Discovery was recently purchased by Paramount, which could complicate things, though perhaps Paramount+ — which is already home to the supernatural thriller series Evil — could be a good place for Supernatural as well. However you slice it, Kripke knows what Padalecki and Ackles have already revealed: the right story would have to present itself.

Though if you ask this author, maybe the best way to bring the Winchesters back is by returning to the show’s initial horror roots, emphasizing their exploration of American urban legends, and pushing the world-ending stakes aside — you can’t really get bigger than Chuck (Rob Benedict), after all. Whether that means following alternate universe versions of Sam and Dean or finding some clever way to explain away their brief reunion so as not to contradict the series finale, that’s up to the writers to decide… As Dean once said, “Let’s get to work.”