Do you need to watch Supernatural to understand The Winchesters?

The Winchesters is a Supernatural prequel heading our way in fall 2022 on The CW. Should you watch Supernatural first to understand the spin-off?

At long last, Supernatural has a spin-off coming. The Winchesters is a prequel series about Sam and Dean’s parents. We’ll get to see how Mary and John met and fell in love. What was their story before they became parents?

Of course, this is a story we’ve heard a little about during the TV series. We got to know Mary and John via their present-day selves, when the Winchester brothers went to the past, and through stories told.

Before you jump into the prequel series, is it worth watching the OG show first? Will you need to know the Supernatural mythology to understand that of The Winchesters?

Supernatural will help understand The Winchesters

It could help to watch the OG series. While The Winchesters is a prequel series, there are going to be some elements to it that assume we already know things. These are things like who the Men of Letters are, what demons are, and how to kill some monsters. What’s the point in rehashing all of that lore?

However, the story of Mary and John is going to be different to that of what we already know. It could, therefore, end up being confusing binge-watching Supernatural before The Winchesters. This will depend on how the show explains the change to the canon, though.

It could be worth getting the basic knowledge of Sam and Dean’s parents, though. Even just finding out who they are and getting to know the Campbells will help.

However, this is a prequel rather than a spin-off. Things that happened in Supernatural don’t really matter, and that’s something to keep in mind. Canon is already changing just by Mary and John’s initially storylines, so anything else could change.

A good prequel (and general spin-off) is written with the idea that new fans will check it out. The writers will need to make sure that everything is explained well in-series and not assume everyone knows the mythology from Supernatural. However, it won’t hurt watching the 15 seasons. If you’re short on time, watch the first five seasons as they are the best.

The Winchesters will air on Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW in fall 2022. Watch Supernatural on Netflix.