Eric Kripke

Eric Kripke (born 1974) is an American writer and television producer. He became known in the late 2000s for creating Supernatural, a fantasy drama that aired on The WB and later on The CW. His work matters because it shows how genre television, once considered niche, found a large audience on American network schedules.

He grew up in Sylvania Township, a suburb of Toledo, Ohio, in a Jewish family. As a teenager he made home movies with friends to show to classmates. He studied at the University of Southern California. His early projects were short films, including Truly Committed, which won an audience award at the Slamdance Film Festival, and Battle of the Sexes. He then moved into television writing, working on Tarzan for The WB, which was cancelled after eight episodes, and co-writing the 2005 horror film Boogeyman.

Supernatural followed in 2005. It centers on two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, who fight demons and other supernatural threats. Kripke ran the show for its first five seasons. Its mythology and its frequent use of classic rock and metal soundtracks became part of its identity. After stepping back, he developed Revolution, a post-apocalyptic drama set in a world where electronics have stopped working, and Timeless, a time-travel adventure for NBC.

His best-known work since Supernatural is The Boys, which premiered in 2019 and adapts the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It follows a world where superheroes are powerful and corrupt, and Kripke has described it as satire of contemporary American politics. As a producer he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series in 2021. His legacy lies in bringing genre and superhero storytelling to a mainstream audience as a distinct authorial voice.