The Real Reason Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries Never Teamed Up Will Surprise You
Turns out, the long-rumored crossover between two TV fan favorites was doomed from the start—and not for the reasons you might expect.
If you ever wondered why The Vampire Diaries never bumped into Sam and Dean from Supernatural, here is the short version: the universes did not play nice together. At least not when it would have mattered early on.
What actually happened
In Samantha Highfill's new book 'I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries,' Julie Plec (who developed TVD with Kevin Williamson) says the network approached them right after The Vampire Diaries debuted about doing something with the Supernatural team. The idea got a quick pass. Their take at the time: cool concept, wrong worlds. TVD was rooted in vampires and werewolves; Supernatural lived in demons, Hell, and the devil. Mashing those mythologies felt like forcing two different rulebooks into one game.
'By the way, if that same request had come my way in Season 7, I would have been like, F--- yeah.'
That little twist is the fun inside-baseball part: early on, Plec and company were protective of TVD's rules; a few seasons in, they might have been game to break them for a crossover swing. The comment comes via TV Insider's coverage of the book.
The earlier explanation (and a tiny typo)
Plec has actually said all this before. Back in 2018, during a promotional Q&A covered by KSiteTV, she laid it out plainly: TVD did not have demons, Hell, or the devil. Supernatural did. Two completely different supernatural universes. One note: you might see her credited as 'Alec' in some recaps of that event. That is a typo; the quotes are from Plec.
The fan wish that never materialized
Supernatural stars Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins have mused about a crossover in the past too, which obviously kept the fantasy alive for fans. But timing and lore never lined up, and that was that.
- The Vampire Diaries ran for eight seasons on The CW, from September 10, 2009, to March 10, 2017.
- Supernatural premiered on The WB on September 13, 2005; the next 14 seasons aired on The CW, and it wrapped on November 19, 2020.
- The new insight comes from Highfill's oral history book; the Season 7 'would have said yes' sentiment was highlighted by TV Insider. Plec's 2018 explanation was reported from a promotional Q&A via KSiteTV.
- This whole bit of franchise what-if was originally flagged by Tamal Kundu at SuperHeroHype before ricocheting around the trades.
So yes, the timelines overlapped and the vibes were similar, but the lore walls were high. By the time TVD might have been ready to hop the fence, the moment had sort of passed.