‘Walker’ Prequel in Development at The CW, Jared Padalecki Calls It a ‘Love Letter’ to Texas
Jared Padalecki‘s hit reboot Walker could be sauntering way into the past — and creating a new franchise for The CW — if a prequel drama in the pipeline gets the greenlight.
Period piece Walker: Independence is currently in development at the network, with a teleplay by showrunner Anna Fricke and series writer Seamus Fahey. Padalecki is attached as an executive producer and is clearly excited about their plan to expand the Walker world. “There is so much space [for story],” he says. “So kudos to Anna and Seamus and the gang for coming up with this awesome idea.”
Rebecca Brenneman/The CW
Now in its second season, Walker is currently playing out the Texas-sized ranch rivalry between his Cordell Walker’s family and the well-connected Davidsons. Walker: Independence, Padalecki, explains, would mine that feud at its origin. “With the prequel, we [see] how the Walkers became the Walkers, how the Davidsons became the Davidsons, and how they became our version of the Hatfields and McCoys…we go way back to the 19th century to meet the first Walker who shows up in [Texas] and see her journey into set her own path.”
Set in the late 1800s, Walker: Independence follows Abby Walker, an affluent Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West. On her quest for revenge, Abby crosses paths with Hoyt Rawlins, a lovable rogue in search of purpose. Abby and Hoyt’s journey takes them to Independence, Texas, where they encounter diverse, eclectic residents running from their own troubled pasts and chasing their dreams. Our newfound family will struggle with the changing world around them while becoming agents of change themselves in a town where nothing is what it seems.
Given that we’ve already met (and buried) the modern-day descendant of Hoyt Rawlins as played by Matt Barr, it’s time to start lighting candles and saying prayers that the EPs cast Barr again to play his ancestor. One show staple we will see more of in Independence is Texas, itself. “We realized in Season 1 that, much like our Impala, Baby, was a character in Supernatural, Texas is a character in Walker,” admits the lifelong Texan, adding that he sees his own evolution in the Lone Star State’s history.
Rebecca Brenneman/The CW
“This is where I am from, and this is part of me, with all of its goods and bads,” he offers. “I’m going to try and really accentuate the goods in my own life, acknowledge the bad, and move towards the former and away from the latter. So this is a love letter [to Texas]…we’ll get another sense of where Texas might have been a hundred-plus years ago and that’s going to be awesome.”
Walker, Thursdays, 8/7c, The CW
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