5 Ways John Winchester could return in Supernatural

With the new knowledge that Jeffrey Dean Morgan promises to return to Supernatural as John Winchester, we look at five ways the father of Sam and Dean Winchester could return.

If you missed the news then you can be forgiven. Jeffrey Dean Morgan only mentioned it passing and we almost missed it ourselves. During his appearance at Walker Stalker Con this weekend, Morgan made a promise that made every SPN Family shudder in excitement.

The promise being that he will one day return to Supernatural as John Winchester.

1: The AU world

AU world John Winchester

With the introduction of the AU world at the end of Season 12 and with Season 13 of Supernatural exploring the worlds by introducing AU Bobby, it opens the door for showrunners to bring back characters who have long been dead.

This would be one of the easiest scenarios to bring back AU John Winchester. It has already been established that John is dead in the AU Bobby world but we have seen that there are many other worlds out there. So John could be lurking in any one of them.

Whether the AU world storyline will continue after Season 13 or not remains to be seen. If Supernatural decided not to continue with the AU worlds then it is unlikely we will ever see AU John. That being said, they could always not continue with the AU storyline but leave it open enough to return at a later date if need be.

An AU John would allow Supernatural to explore alternate paths Sam and Dean could have gone down. Similar to when Dean was trapped in an alternate reality by a Djinn and we saw Dean’s life if certain events didn’t happen. That was just a wish world,but what could really have happened had Mary not even been offered the deal because Yellow Eyes didn’t kill John or if Mary never went into the room that fateful night?

There are just so many what ifs in Supernatural that the rifts into other worlds is open to multiple possibilities.

2: Returning as a spirit

Spirit John

The last time anyone saw John Winchester was in the Season 2 finale. When the Devil’s Gate in Wyoming was opened by Jake Talley, John escaped hell, along with a few other thousand or so demons and monsters.

John took this opportunity to help save Dean from Azazel. John doesn’t last very long against Yellow Eyes but he buys Dean enough time to grab the colt, aim and fire a bullet into his heart. With Azazel dead the mission that John Winchester set out to do so long ago is complete. He shares a brief moment with both Sam and Dean before disappearing in a flash of white light.

Now there are plenty of theories of what happened to John next. We are not going into any of them though, as we are looking at his return to Supernatural. One thing we will note is that when in Heaven, Ash noted that he hasn’t seen Mary or John Winchester, suggesting that his soul isn’t there. With John last seen as a spirit, returning to Sam and Dean as a spirit would not be too far a stretch of the imagination.

He could possibly return to help Sam and Dean close the Gates of Hell forever; stop the world being infected by monsters. Maybe even a case where the one who escaped Hell must go back to Hell. It would be bittersweet, but a poetic way to bring an end to the series, and Morgan said he’d come back when the show came to an end.

3: Flashback scenario

Flashback John

Another one that does not require much explanation in how he is able to return is the flashback effect. Flashbacks have appeared many times in Supernatural and all in different ways as well. The joy of dealing with the Supernatural is you have an endless supply of magical creatures.

This could play out several different ways. You can have a magical creature capture Sam and Dean and put them into a trance of some sort that lets them see the past. They could be sent back in time, again. It could also just be the style of the episode where events play out in the present that remind the brothers of the past.

All of the above has been done before in one way or another in Supernatural already. Flashbacks always have a lot of meaning to the Winchesters and, therefore, to the fans.

One alternative that has not been done before would be a flashback style as either Sam or Dean perish or are about to complete the mother of all challenges and are in their final moments. Think of flashbacks similar to your life flashing before your eyes, where Sam and Dean see everyone that has been a big part of their lives, John included.

4: Resurrected by Cas, Chuck or Amara

Resurrected John

Amara brought back Mary, so why can’t she bring John back too?

Yes, it may be a bit more difficult. John was given the hunter burial, but then Mary was burned on the ceiling. There may also be the issue that John sold his soul to a crossroad demon and wrongfully escaped Hell. But, where there is a will there is a way and I am sure either Cas, Amara or Chuck could do the deed if needed.

After all, technically Chuck wrote the rules. Amara probably helped him out as well, hence why she was able to bring Mary back so easily. So they could probably bend the rules in order to bring back John. Hell, Chuck has brought Cas back so many times he must have bent a rule or two by now.

It could be a happy ending sort of thing for Sam and Dean. Their final battle against evil and they are rewarded with having the ones that the loved the most brought back. It could be a happy reunion of John, Bobby, Ellen, Jo, etc.

Who wouldn’t want that?

Of course, for this to really work, Mary would have to return from the Apocalypse World in Supernatural Season 13. There are theories that she will stick in that AU world to help protect innocents and be with Bobby. The last thing we’d want is John to return to find out the love of his life moved on with an alternate version of a former friend.

5: Spell

Spell John

Casting spells and making deals is Supernatural’s norm for bringing back people. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times or how much harder it is to bring someone back there is a spell out there somewhere to do it.

If John had a thousand different types of locks on him to prevent him from being brought back, there would easily be a thousand different anti-lock spells to undo them. There is always a way; it’s just usually insane and ridiculously hard to accomplish.

There is a lot of different scenarios why this they would possibly have to do this. An impending apocalypse would be the best bet because Supernatural can’t go too long with one of them around the corner. An elaborate plan that involves the father of the Winchesters to complete would sound about right at most the SPN Family.

If anyone was going to do something like this, Rowena would be the perfect witch. This is especially the case now that she’s made herself super powerful to protect herself against Lucifer. Why would Rowena help the Winchesters? Okay, so that bit would need working out but there is likely to be some reason. After all, she’s helped them in the past when she could easily just leave them to die!

Next: Jeffrey Dean Morgan makes a promise to all Supernatural fans

Which scenario do you think would be the most likely for John Winchester to come back? Have you got your own theory? If so share it with us by leaving a comment below.

Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW. Follow SPN Hunters on Twitter for more fun theories.

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