There’s a Supernatural reunion of sorts happening on Walker, as Jensen Ackles is directing an episode of the Jared Padalecki-led Walker, Texas Ranger reboot on The CW. With Ackles and Padalecki having a true brotherly bond since playing brothers on SPN for 15 seasons, they are known to play pranks on one another and it looks like that tradition is, thankfully, continuing.
Jensen Ackles is on the set of Walker this week to direct Episode 14 of the show’s second season, and he has been the target of daily pranks that include changing the name on his director’s chair to match different characters he’s played, like Dean Winchester and the upcoming Soldier Boy in The Boys. Ackles documented the torment on his Instagram Stories and it’s pretty hilarious:
Obviously the first day of filming belonged to Jensen Ackles’ most-known character, Dean Winchester. Ackles portrayed the pie-loving hunter on Supernatural before he met his permanent demise in the polarizing series finale in 2020. Could he really direct an episode of a show starring his former on-screen brother without a big Supernatural nod?
And that isn’t the only Easter egg for the long-running CW series. As proved by the Soldier Boy photo that followed, the title of the episode is “Don’t You Cry No More,” a lyric from the Kansas song “Carry On Wayward Son” which is Supernatural’s unofficial anthem. So there is at least one more nod to Supernatural, even if the photo with the reveal is most obviously about Jensen Ackles' role in The Boys:
The second day of directing was an homage to Jensen Ackles’ highly-anticipated The Boys character, Soldier Boy. Fans won’t be seeing him until June when the third season premieres on Prime Video, but Ackles used some bittersweet callbacks to Supernatural in connection to his time on The Boys. The third day strayed away from Ackles' fictional characters, but still didn't include his actual name:
The third day just proves how “ridiculous” these pranks are, according to Ackles, but fans can probably agree that they're pretty hilarious. What's not to enjoy about a reminder of who his parents are, even if it was a way to avoid actually giving him a chair with his own name on it? And that still isn't the end of it, as the fourth day mentions another beloved character that Ackles played, and it proves that he'll never escape his soap opera days.
Of course this prank couldn’t skip Jensen Ackles’ second most-known character, which is Eric Brady from Days of Our Lives. The shot is complete with a Soap Opera Magazine circa 1999, with Ackles on the top left corner. Honestly, kudos to whoever managed to get a copy of that magazine for a prank in 2022!
It also makes me wonder just what else the crew has up their sleeves since Jensen Ackles will likely be directing for a few more days. They could definitely bring up his Smallville or Dawson’s Creek days. I’m sure whatever is next, it will be hilarious and just remind everyone that shenanigans can ensue when Ackles and Jared Padalecki are together.
Jensen Ackles is proving to be pretty busy these days. Aside from Season 3 of The Boys and his directing stint on Walker, The CW recently gave Supernatural prequel series The Winchesters a pilot order. The series comes from Ackles' production company with wife Danneel, and while it’s just a pilot order, hopefully the project will soon get a series order.
There is no word yet on when Jensen Ackles’ episode of Walker will premiere, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates, and check out our 2022 TV schedule for some other viewing options in the coming weeks.
