‘The Vampire Diaries’ Boss Reveals Why She Turned Down a ‘Supernatural’ Crossover

I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries

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Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries? It could’ve been the crossover to end all crossovers. On paper, it does seem like things could’ve lined up: The shows were airing on The CW at the same time, and both of their premises involved paranormal beings. Not to mention, both had very passionate fanbases.

When TVD was rolling out its first season — and Supernatural was on its fifth — the network even approached the creators about collaborating. In Samantha Highfill’s I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of ‘The Vampire Diaries, executive producer Julie Plec reveals that it didn’t make sense at the time.

More specifically, Plec said the team decided that blending the two worlds wouldn’t work with their mythology, but it might’ve been a different story had the request come a few years later. “By the way, if that same request had come my way in Season 7, I would’ve been like, ‘F**k yeah'” she admitted in the book.

Plec spoke more extensively on the topic at a convention in 2018, shortly after TVD had wrapped up its eighth and final season. ” Kevin [Williamson, coproducer] and I were like ‘absolutely not, because we are vampires and werewolves,” she explained, according to Screenrant. “We don’t have demons. We don’t have Hell. We don’t have the devil. We don’t have any of that stuff! It’s like two completely different supernatural universes!”

A few years before that, Supernatural star Jensen Ackles was asked about a crossover he’d like to do, and he teased the possibility of the Winchesters meeting the Salvatore brothers. “Maybe given the trade that the Winchester brothers are in, maybe we go pay a visit to The Vampire Diaries and just wipe them out,” he said.

It wasn’t the last time the actor would bring it up. In 2016, he admitted it would be difficult to make a crossover happen, considering that the shows were filmed thousands of miles apart.

“I just say at the end, we’ll loan them an Impala and just have the Impala drive into town as the last thing you see,” he joked. His costar Misha Collins chimed in, “And then the screen cuts to black and you just hear screams.”

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Alas, it never came to be. Instead, Plec noted in Highfill’s book that they were more focused on spinoffs located within the TVD universe. As early as Season 2, the team was playing around with the idea of doing a university-set paranormal show with possessions and ghosts, according to Williamson, which definitely sounds more up Supernatural‘s alley.

While that didn’t get off the ground, Plec and Williamson did start discussing The Originals around the same time instead. “The Originals spinoff happened because Klaus was so good and Elijah was so good and then suddenly we introduced Rebekah as part of the story and then it was like, ‘Why are we not doing this whole family? They’re so good.'”

And the rest is history, though the higher-ups didn’t immediately agree to the idea until about a season later. Would you have liked to see the Supernatural and TVD crews cross paths, or are you glad TVD kept everything within the same universe? Let us know in the comments below!