Variety has confirmed that Jared Padalecki may star in a reboot of Walker, Texas Ranger, which is currently in development at CBS Television Studios. Fans might recognize Padalecki from the long-running The CW show Supernatural, which he stars in as Sam Winchester alongside Jensen Ackles.
Walker, Texas Ranger is a new version of the classic series that originally starred Chuck Norris as Cordell Walker when it premiered in 1993. The original series also starred Clarence Gilyard Jr., Sheree J. Wilson, and Noble Willingham. It was hugely popular and ran for almost 200 episodes before it ended in 2001 after nine seasons.
This reboot is said to follow Walker after he returns to society after spending years undercover. As the father of two boys and a widower, Walker will fight crime alongside a new partner who, according to Variety, is the only female ranger in history. If the project survives the development stages at CBS, Padalecki would star as Walker. This would allow him to make a smooth career transition off of Supernatural, which is finally ending in 2019 after 15 seasons on The CW.
Apart from Supernatural, Padalecki is best known for portraying Dean Forester on Gilmore Girls. His other credits include projects like Kings of Con, where he played Jaden Jaworski, and Friday the 13th, in which he played Clay Miller.
Anna Fricke will likely write and executive produce Walker, Texas Ranger. Her former credits include Being Human, Wayward Pines, and Valor. Padalecki would join her as an executive producer alongside Lindsey Liberatore and Dan Lin and of Rideback, in addition to Dan Spilo.
The series has yet to find network, although it may air on either CBS or The CW. The latter would make sense given Padalecki’s ties with the network, although CBS has successfully rebooted several shows in recent memory like Hawaii Five-O, MacGyver, and Magnum P.I.