If Supernatural has proven anything over the years, is its own longevity. After only two years off the air, the CW plans to bring back the monster-infested world of Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles), but this time with a focus not on the demon-killing brothers, but on their parents. That's right, The Winchesters is set to follow the story of John Winchester (Drake Rodger) and Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly) before they fell in love and left hunting altogether — at least until the Yellow-Eyed Demon killed Mary and set the "mothership" series into motion.
With the series trailer out now, we know that the show focuses on Dean uncovering the secret history of his parents, and how John and Mary initially got together to become "the Winchesters." From what we learn from the trailer, John returns to Kansas from his military service overseas and continues to search for answers about his missing father, Henry Winchester (played by Gil McKinney on Supernatural). This includes his father's ties to the secretive Men of Letters organization. But who are the Men of Letters? How might they factor into The Winchesters story? Let's raid the Bunker and find out.
Mysterious Origins
Truthfully, there's a lot we don't know about the Men of Letters, even after learning their history throughout the last eight seasons of Supernatural. While it's unclear when the Men of Letters began, we know that they've been around for long enough to collect just about every valuable resource on the paranormal, world religions, and magical lore there is. Known as "preceptors, observers, beholders, and chroniclers" of the weird and unexplained, they believed themselves to be the gatekeepers of the supernatural.
This meant that they thought that hunters (at least as they were depicted on Supernatural) were "below" them, and somewhat uncivilized, only sharing important secrets with the best hunters when absolutely necessary. Their organization could be identified by its use of the Aquarian Star (a symbol with magical ties to ancient Atlantis). While the majority of their members were male (as their name suggests), and members were only initiated through the paternal family line, they did have female members as well, though it was a lot less common, at least in the American branch.
We also know that around the 17th century, the Men of Letters influenced various witch trials to destroy the Grand Coven, a group of witches who threatened humanity. Around the time of the Second World War, the group conscripted a wood-nymph nicknamed Mrs. Butters (Meagen Fay) into their ranks after she had been experimented on by a Nazi occultist group called the Thule Society. Mrs. Butters would work alongside the Men of Letters for years, namely, the group's Master of Spells Cuthbert Sinclair (Kavan Smith), who, after creating the dangerous Werther Box, would be expelled from the group, only to rename himself "Magnus."
Death & Destruction
In 1958, initiates Henry Winchester and Josie Sands (Alaina Huffman) were sent to investigate a convent that was plagued by demons, namely the Knight of Hell known as Abaddon. In all the commotion, Abaddon overpowered Henry and attempted to possess him before Josie pleaded with the black-eyed creature to take her instead since she loved John and knew she couldn't be with him (he was married after all). Accepting her proposal, Abaddon posed as Josie for months. At this time, Max Thompson (Warren Kimmel), a priest and a member of the Men of Letters, discovered how to cure a demon through a series of experiments.
Because of Thompson's work, Abaddon infiltrated the secret society and revealed herself the night of Henry and Josie's final initiation into the order, killing the last of the United States branch of the Men of Letters. The only survivor of the massacre was Elder Larry Ganem (George Touliatos), who was blinded by the demon. In all the chaos, Henry opened a portal by tapping into his soul's own energy and jumped through to escape the demon's wrath with the Men of Letters' secrets, though Abaddon managed to follow him through. Because of this, Henry wouldn't see his son again, and John Winchester would grow up without a father.
Since there was no one left to take up the mantle of the Men of Letters, and her friends hadn't returned home, Mrs. Butters shut down the group's headquarters in Lebanon, Kansas, putting the Bunker (and herself) in "standby mode." For many decades, this was the end of the Men of Letters in America, although the British installment of the group continued strong. With new technology and tactics to kill monsters, the British Men of Letters (which had separated from the American branch long ago) was able to decrease supernatural incidents exponentially, making Great Britain mostly paranormal-free.
New Legacies
In 2013, Henry Winchester reappeared, having accidentally time-traveled over 60 years into the future. Because of the nature of his spell, he had made his way to his own grandsons, Sam and Dean Winchester, rather than his son. Sam and Dean knew very little about their grandfather other than that he seemingly abandoned his family out of nowhere. Henry revealed to them that they were Men of Letters Legacies by blood. Sadly, Henry was killed by Abaddon (who also showed up in 2013). Afterward, Sam and Dean discovered the Men of Letters' Bunker in Lebanon and embraced their roles as Legacies.
Hoping to kill the Knight of Hell who killed their grandfather, the brothers turned to Magnus, who had since become a collector of supernatural artifacts. This included the First Blade, which Sam and Dean needed to kill the demon, but rather than give the Blade up, Magnus hoped to add Dean to his collection since Dean bore the Mark of Cain. With the help of the demon Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard), Sam rescued Dean and Crowley killed Magnus. After months of searching for the demon, Dean finally used the Blade to kill Abaddon, avenging Henry, Josie, and the other Men of Letters.
Not long after this, Sam and Dean would discover Magnus' old Werther Box, which, after the murder of the last Chief of the Men of Letters Mr. Markham (Ben Corns) by Abaddon, had been left unguarded for decades. This box had caused the death of an entire family and nearly killed Sam and Dean before they were able to destroy it for good with the help of the witch Rowena (Ruth Connell). At last, the Men of Letters' darkest creation was put to rest.
British Invasion
Only a few years later, in 2016, the British Men of Letters decided to reach out to Sam and Dean after having kept tabs on their exploits following their roles in stopping the Apocalypse. After the brothers accidentally released (and then stopped) the Darkness, the BMoL decided it was time to intervene. After sending Lady Toni Bevell (Elizabeth Blackmore) to keep tabs on the Winchesters, the British branch was forced to pull back the reins after she banished the angel Castiel (Misha Collins) and tortured Sam for information.
In response, the psychotic Arthur Ketch (David Haydn-Jones) and the well-balanced Mick Davies (Adam Fergus) were sent to make peace with the Legacies, hoping to learn from the American hunters. As they studied the brothers, Mick grew a conscience and attempted to ally himself with Sam and Dean, recognizing the harmful tactics of the British Men of Letters. Under orders of BMoL Elder Doctor Hess (Gillian Barber), Ketch murdered Mick in cold blood, which began a war between the British secret society and the American hunters after Sam and Dean discovered the truth.
Eventually, Sam led a group of American hunters in an invasion of the British Men of Letters' compound, which resulted in the deaths of Doctor Hess and countless BMoL agents. Meanwhile, Dean and his resurrected mother Mary Winchester (played here by Samantha Smith) fought against Lady Bevell and Arthur Ketch, killing them both. While Ketch would be resurrected and return to the Winchesters as an uneasy ally, this would effectively be the end of the British Men of Letters' attempts to deal with the monster problem in America, and they completely left the continent altogether.
Carrying On
After Sam, Dean, and their band of hunters forced the British Men of Letters to leave America, Sam created an American hunting network based on the Men of Letters' original premise and the British variant's updated technology. This included regular check-ins with hunters (especially with those who were refugees from the alternate Apocalypse World), body cameras to help each hunter better learn from their mistakes, and complete access to the Men of Letters' Bunker and library. The American branch of hunters would end up using these resources for years to come.
In 2020, the brothers accidentally awoke the wood-nymph Mrs. Butters, who temporarily restored the Bunker to its full power before she attempted to kill their ally Jack (Alexander Calvert), who she thought was a threat due to his nature as the literal Son of the Devil (Mark Pellegrino). Able to convince her that Jack wasn't like his father, Sam and Dean saved Jack from Mrs. Butters' wrath. After apologizing for her actions, she left the Bunker to find her wood-nymph family, putting the Bunker back in "standby mode." Nevertheless, the brothers continued to use the Men of Letters' resources until Dean's final hunt.
After Dean's death, Sam left hunting behind, closing the Men of Letters' Bunker for some other hunter to find one day. After finally settling down into a "normal, apple-pie life," Sam lived for a few more decades before succumbing to his old age, though not before passing his knowledge on to his son, whom he had affectionately named Dean after his brother. It seems that Dean Winchester II, also a Men of Letters' Legacy, might one day take up hunting himself given he's marked by an anti-possession tattoo of his own. Although we don't know if the Men of Letters will ever reignite in America, there's no doubt that their vast knowledge and expansive catalog of equipment will one day be used to help save the world once again.