Jensen Ackles was a familiar face on the small screen for fifteen seasons thanks to his role as Dean Winchester on The CW’s Supernatural, and he hasn’t given up on that world of monsters and demons in the years since. Now, however, he’s returning to network TV for a new series regular role that won’t involve staking vampires or chatting with angels. He’s coming to ABC’s Big Sky for a different kind of character.
Ackles – who will soon appear streaming with his role on The Boys Season 3 – has signed on for series regular status in the upcoming third season of Big Sky, according to TVLine. He plays Beau Arlen, a Texan who brings charm and confidence to his role as temporary sheriff. The promotion makes him Jenny’s new boss, and comes as a favor for Sheriff Tubb.
The casting of Jensen Ackles as Beau was first revealed earlier in the week, when a preview for the Big Sky Season 2 finale featured him in a scene with Katheryn Winnick’s Jenny. At the time, he was expected to appear in just the finale as a guest star, but that was before the official news came down that the ABC drama was renewed for Season 3. Ackles is expected to be part of Big Sky for a single season arc, which isn’t altogether surprising.
Although the show isn’t an anthology like American Horror Story that reuses its cast but tells new stories with new characters each season, Big Sky does move from arc to arc. The Supernatural alum signing on as a series regular for just a single season doesn’t mean that fans should go in and expect him to be killed off. Of course, the shocking death of Ryan Phillippe’s character in the series premiere was early proof that few people are truly safe from being killed off Big Sky.
The Big Sky series regular news comes just a few weeks before Season 3 of The Boys launches in the 2022 TV premiere lineup, which Jensen Ackles joined to reteam with Supernatural creator Eric Kripke and play the Supe known as Soldier Boy. The reunion with Kripke definitely doesn’t mean that viewers will see Ackles as Dean Winchester 2.0, though!
The Supernatural prequel The Winchesters also received a series order, and the show will include Ackles as Dean narrating his parents’ story. Ackles is an executive producer as well as narrator (and the show was announced with a fair amount of drama involving Ackles and former on-screen brother Jared Padalecki before it was resolved).
All things considered, Jensen Ackles seems to have a full plate for the foreseeable future, and fans can get an early look at what will be a series regular role with the Big Sky Season 2 finale. Take a look at the promo for what to expect:
The Season 2 finale of Big Sky airs on Thursday, May 19 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. Be sure to check out our spring TV finale schedule to see the drama’s competition on the night, as well as when more of TV’s biggest shows will wrap for the 2021-2022 TV season. Many shows haven’t been lucky enough to be renewed for another season, with a “Red Wedding”-esque spree of CW cancellations, and there are undoubtedly more cancellations to come.
