During Season 1, the good folks behind Riverdale teased the possibility that some of the creepier aspects of the comic-based show could turn up at some point. Now, it looks like that might actually happen during the sophomore season of The CW show. CinemaBlend's own Conner Schwerdtfeger was in attendance at San Diego Comic-Con this past week, when Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa spoke out about adding some of the famed supernatural aspects of the Archie comics world to the series.
You know, I love horror stuff and I love dreams and jump scares and things like that so we're always trying to figure out ways to put hints of that in Riverdale. We're talking about one very prominent supernatural character that exists in the Archie universe, and that's all I can say.
Well, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa isn't kidding around when he says he loves "horror stuff." Along with adapting Stephen King's The Stand into a series of comics, in 2013 he created Afterlife with Archie, which followed Archie Andrews and his pals in Riverdale as they dealt with a zombie apocalypse. The success of the series actually led to him being appointed as Archie Comics' chief creative officer. So, if anyone can handle adding some real jump scares to Riverdale, Aguirre-Sacasa is the man for the gig.
As anyone who's read Afterlife with Archie knows, said zombie activity begins when Jughead's beloved dog gets hit by a car, and the mourning teen asks a certain teenage witch to bring the pup back to life. And, it's no secret that that cute little witch, Sabrina, is the best known supernatural element of the Archie Comics world. After an Easter egg in the Season 1 finale of Riverdale turned out to not be leading us to her appearance in that episode, will we finally get some witchy goodness on the show? Sounds like it's possible.
I admit, I have mixed feelings about this. Riverdale did a great job in Season 1 of giving us a true neo-noir, teenage adventure version of the Archie universe. There are already plenty of shady characters, mixed teenage emotions and dangerous situations in that tiny town without Archie, Jughead and the gang having to deal with things that go bump in the night. But, the idea of Sabrina Spellman showing up and performing a task which may or may not involve magic seems just too good for the Riverdale team to pass up.
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa mentioned during Season 1 that they were looking for a way to bring Sabrina in that didn't immediately usher in a bunch of supernatural shenanigans to Riverdale. One idea is that on her side of the river (over in the town of Greendale) there's a slightly different reality that allows for all sorts of otherworldly stuff to happen all the time, but Sabrina would just be able to bring a little witch-ness across the river. This would let Riverdale continue in a mostly grounded world that is just sort of supernatural adjacent, so it doesn't overwhelm the series.
Well, we still have a while to wait to see if the show will bring the supernatural to Riverdale, with Season 2 premiering on Wednesday, October 11 on The CW. For a full report on what you can catch on the small screen right now, head to our summer premiere schedule.
