Not content with continuing almost twice as long as was originally planned and with the expectation to extend even longer, a pilot for the long discussed SUPERNATURAL spin off series has been officially announced, along with some details of what we can expect.

It has a current working title of SUPERNATURAL: TRIBES, and will feature clashing cultures of groups of hunters and monsters in Chicago, and will hopefully end up nowhere near as WEST SIDE STORY as that sounds. Set to be more of an ensemble drama and with a fixed urban setting as opposed to the perpetual road trip of its parent show, it will possibly take a more morally ambiguous stance to the featured creatures, something SUPERNATURAL has occasionally touched upon but never really explored in depth. Episode 20 of the current season will act as a backdoor pilot, presumably seeing the Winchesters travel to the city for a reason unrelated to the angel and demon civil wars.

This isn’t the first time that the series has expanded beyond its original parameters. A short lived web series featuring annoying paranormal investigators the Ghostfacers aired in 2010, while not long after saw the appearance of a Japanese anime that retold the first two seasons, condensing the story in some places while expanding it in others. For a while there was also talk of a western featuring a group of hunters led by real-life gunsmith Samuel Colt (also the in-universe creator of one of the show’s most powerful weapons), an idea partially realised in season 6 episode ‘FRONTIERLAND’, where Sam and Dean were sent back in time to 1861 to kill a phoenix.

Whether or not TRIBES will be a success is debatable, as a large part of SUPERNATURAL’s ratings is down to armies of squeeing fangirls with their love for Sam and Dean (and, increasingly, Castiel) and the hunters’ tendency to get angsty about the emotional toil of their calling. However, although no cast regulars will be jumping ship, the possibility of familiar faces making occasional appearances has not been ruled out, meaning there could well be even more of the Winchesters all up in your TV screen.

Currently airing in the US, season 9 of SUPERNATURAL will likely begin in the UK on Sky Living some time in the summer.

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