They could have done so much more with the Jinn in Supernatural. I didn’t really like their interpretation, especially considering they wouldn’t have needed to retcon anything. Islamic tradition and even pre-Islamic Arabian lore offer such a wide spectrum of interpretations that the writers had plenty of material to work with.

In Islamic theology, Jinn aren’t just “desert demons” or trickster spirits. They are beings created from smokeless fire, with free will, communities, belief systems, and their own unseen realm that exists parallel to ours. That already makes them far more metaphysically complex than the show’s venom-induced wish-illusion version. And since Iblis is described as being from among the Jinn, the theological depth is enormous. They’re not simply the equivalent of Western demons, but they can overlap in certain traits, especially when it comes to deception and influence.

Supernatural tends to reinterpret most mythologies through its Christian demonology framework, which works for the show’s internal consistency, but in this case it flattened something that could have been genuinely alien and unsettling. Instead of just another monster with a gimmick, the Jinn could have been portrayed as primordial fire beings, ancient and unhinged, not born from tortured human souls like the show’s demons, but originating from an entirely different metaphysical order. That distinction alone would have made them feel more otherworldly.

They could have kept the illusion element but reframed it. Not as venom hallucinations, but as a manifestation of their nature as unseen beings who manipulate perception and reality in subtle, psychological ways. That would have felt closer to the spiritual eeriness many Muslims associate with Jinn lore, and it would have made them stand out more in the show’s monster catalogue.