Jensen Ackles' Countdown Role: Why Fans of His Supernatural Character Will Love It

Jensen Ackles is bringing Supernatural fans some of what they loved about Dean Winchester to his new role.

The actor plays LAPD detective Mark Meachum in the new Prime series Countdown, which marks his first lead role since Supernatural's conclusion in 2020. As Meachum, Ackles joins forces with a secret task force of undercover agents from across law enforcement to investigate a high-profile murder.

In a recent interview, he teased that the character will feel "familiar" for Supernatural fans. "There's probably going to be some familiarity from that fandom with this guy," Ackles, 47, told Entertainment Weekly. "It's not like I'm going so opposite spectrum with this character. He's going to be a familiar taste, which is good. I like doing that."

He described his Countdown character as a "rogue L.A. detective" and a "wrong-side-of-the-tracks kind of guy" who "takes risks that most people wouldn't take."

"I mean, I played Dean for 15 years. I loved playing that kind of a character. And I think this guy is in the vein of that, just with a completely different set of circumstances," he told the outlet.

Ackles also said that he gets his "Tom Cruise on" in the series, which is executive produced and written by Chicago Fire creator Derek Haas. "This is some full-on action stuff," he explained.

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Ackles stars in Countdown, which premieres June 25, alongside Eric Dane, Jessica Camacho, Violett Beane, Elliot Knight and Uli Latukefu.

The series picks up following the murder of a Department of Homeland Security officer in broad daylight, which brings Ackles' Meachum into the folds of the task force. Per the official logline, "the hunt for the killer soon uncovers a plot far more sinister than anyone could have imagined, kicking off a race against time to save a city of millions."

Along with Ackles' new role that he promised will evoke what fans loved about Dean Winchester, fans also have a Supernatural reunion to look forward to: Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins will both appear as guest stars in the upcoming fifth and final season of The Boys from creator Eric Kripke.

Ackles, Padalecki, 42, and Collins, 50, all starred on Kripke's CW series, with Padalecki playing Ackles' brother, Sam Winchester, and Collins joining in season 4 as Castiel.

While the upcoming reunion was announced in February, there have been no further details revealed about how Padalecki and Collins will fit into the superhero series, which Ackles joined in season 3 as Soldier Boy.

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Countdown premieres June 25 on Prime Video and Supernatural can be streamed on Netflix.