Supernatural Season 16 Can Bring Dean Back From The Dead Permanently, Despite Season 15’s Ending

by

The fifteenth season of Supernatural shocked viewers when Dean Winchester died. While many expected Dean to eventually meet his end, the way it happened was unexpected. He wasn’t killed making a heroic sacrifice to save the world, but rather by a random spike injury during a normal vampire hunt.

Many fans were upset with how the show Supernatural ended, particularly with Dean’s death, and immediately began hoping for a sixteenth season. Although there hasn’t been any official announcement in the last five years, both Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki have hinted they’d be open to returning, suggesting we haven’t seen the last of Sam and Dean Winchester.

Supernatural Season 16’s “Does Dean Stay Dead?” Problem Explained

If Supernatural were to come back for a sixteenth season, Sam and Dean Winchester would absolutely have to be together. The show’s unsuccessful attempts at spinoffs prove that the heart of Supernatural is the relationship between those two brothers.

Dean’s death wouldn’t necessarily prevent a potential revival with Sam. Thanks to what we saw in The Winchesters, Dean can move between different realities, meaning he could easily visit Earth if Sam needed help. So, a new season of Supernatural would likely involve Dean getting a temporary pass from the afterlife to team up with Sam for one final case and defeat a new supernatural threat.

Unfortunately, many fans anticipate that Dean will return to Heaven after the final case in Supernatural season 16 concludes.

The series finale of Supernatural strongly suggests Sam lived a full life without Dean, showing us glimpses of his life up until his peaceful death as an elderly man. From their heartwarming reunion in Heaven to Sam eventually owning the Impala, the ending clearly implies he spent decades without his brother. Therefore, to maintain consistency with that ending, season 16 had to conclude with Dean remaining dead, didn’t it?

Why Dean Winchester Deserves To Be Resurrected Permanently In Supernatural Season 16

Dean Winchester’s death in the final episode of Supernatural felt inevitable, as the show had increasingly portrayed him as a hunter fated to die in action. However, many fans were let down by how he died. Then, the prequel series The Winchesters further diminished the impact of his death by revealing he wasn’t truly trapped in Heaven.

Now would be a good time for Supernatural to simply move past the idea of Dean being dead. The show had a chance to give Dean a meaningful exit in the series finale, but it didn’t quite work. It’s best to revise that storyline and give Dean a different outcome.

There’s a different, potentially satisfying conclusion for Dean after Supernatural’s final season that focuses on a storyline never fully resolved: his relationship with Lisa and Ben.

You know, after the whole mess with Lucifer, Dean actually tried to settle down with Lisa and her son Ben for a little while, between seasons five and six of Supernatural. But he quickly realized that just being around them put them in danger, because of his life. It broke his heart, but he had their memories erased to protect them, and never mentioned them again. Honestly, watching that storyline, it was so clear that Lisa and Ben were Dean’s shot at a normal life, his ‘happily ever after,’ even if it couldn’t last.

The best way to end Jensen Ackles’ character arc in Supernatural season 16 would be to have him reconnect with his family and finally resolve his unresolved feelings – a relationship that haunts Dean throughout the entire series. This would also make any future Supernatural revivals easier, as they wouldn’t have to worry about bringing Dean back to life.

The biggest challenge for a continuation of Supernatural would be explaining how Dean could return to life permanently and start a family, considering the series finale clearly showed him remaining dead in Sam’s vision of the future.

How Supernatural Can Bring Dean Back From The Dead Permanently

To bring Dean back to life in a way that makes sense with the season 15 finale, Supernatural should portray Sam’s future not as the only possible outcome, but as one of many.

Both the original Supernatural series and its spin-off, The Winchesters, have explored the idea of alternate realities and changing what’s to come. The Winchesters was built on this concept from the start. The glimpse of Sam’s future after the Supernatural finale isn’t necessarily fixed; it could simply be one possible future in a timeline where Dean remains dead. However, if Dean were to return to life in the main Supernatural timeline, that future vision would likely change.

Usually, changing a previously shown future event would be seen as a weak way to rewrite the story. However, because fans generally disliked the ending of Supernatural – everything from Sam looking older to Dean’s disappointing final case – it’s unlikely many would mind if the show quietly ignored what happened to Sam in his later years, making it no longer official canon.

Sam would still get his happy life – meeting the woman we briefly saw in Supernatural, having a son, and even buying that silly cardigan. The only change would be Dean being there to share it with him… and Dean definitely wouldn’t give up the Impala!

Read More

2025-11-09 06:30