4 Upcoming Movies and TV Shows of Jensen Ackles
Jensen Ackles has a number of upcoming TV shows and projects lined up as his Hollywood career continues to grow and take him to new heights. Ackles made his on-screen debut when he was just 17 years old, appearing in an episode of Wishbone. From there, he continued to appear in various television shows in minor roles. One of his first notable appearances was as teenager Eric Brady on the long-running drama Days of our Lives, where he appeared in nearly 450 episodes from 1997 to 2000. From there, Ackles continued to audition for dream roles like Clark Kent in Smallville, but he missed out on Tom Welling. However, his big break came soon after when he landed the lead role on The CW series Supernatural. Ackles became a household name playing Dean Winchester for 15 years, and his career has continued to grow since the show ended in 2020. Most recently, he has appeared as the voice of Batman for DC animated projects and as the antihero Soldier Boy in The Boys.
The next show Ackles will appear on is the CBS Original series, Tracker, starring Justin Hartley. While Ackles did not reprise his role as Clark Kent on Smallville, he was cast in a recurring role as Jason Teague, a romantic rival of Clark’s who briefly dated Lana Lang and served as an assistant coach for the Smallville Crows football team. While Ackles’ time on the show ended in 2005 with the season 4 finale, Hartley joined the cast in season 6 as Oliver Queen. The pair do not overlap, but the connection highlights their closeness.
While Ackles went on to star in Supernatural shortly after his time on Smallville, Hartley spent several years as a supporting character on Smallville and then took on a starring role in the spin-off series This is Us in 2016. Tracker was one of the first shows to feature Hartley as the main character, with others taking on supporting roles. The series is also similar to Supernatural in some ways, as it follows a weekly episodic storyline format, with Hartley’s character, Colter Shaw, being hired to track down targets across the continental United States.
In the first season, Ackles appeared in the penultimate episode as Colter’s brother, Russell Shaw, and the pair embark on a mission together to help uncover secrets about their family. While Tracker mostly followed Colter on solo missions, the collaboration between Colter and Russell added a lot of intensity and interest to the show, as Ackles gave a solid performance in a familiar role that was reminiscent of Dean Winchester in many core ways.
Although Ackles only appeared in one episode in season 1, he has been confirmed to return in season 2 and will likely help clarify some of the murky Shaw family history when he does show up. Considering Russell left home and worked in the military for nearly two decades, then as a mercenary, he’s an interesting character whose skills help him connect with his brother and be useful in his line of work. However, there are certainly still some lingering mysteries about what happened between Russell and his father on the night of his death, which could finally be answered in Tracker season 2. Next on Ackles’ list is the first show he’s starred in since the end of Supernatural. While Ackles has starred in animated shows, he’s mostly played important supporting roles since 2020. That’s changing as Ackles will now star in the Amazon Prime Video series Countdown.
The series begins with a murder mystery that pits Jensen Ackles’ character Mark Meachum against a team of undercover law enforcement agents from various departments and backgrounds. With so many egos and strong-willed characters, things can get tense, but this dramatic thriller promises to pick up the heat as the mystery becomes more complex and the plot thickens. This seems to fit in with many of Ackles’ previous roles, but it would be interesting to see him play an official government agent rather than pretending to be one.
Throughout his career, Ackles has played strong, fierce male characters with a lot of anger and frustration. Whether he’s being abandoned by a loved one or finding himself pulling on a thread that leads to darker paths, Ackles has a knack for playing a tough guy. However, Countdown looks to be one of the most dramatic and serious roles he’s ever taken on, with little focus on superpowers or supernatural beings.
