Even though season 5 of Riverdale wrapped up earlier this month, the next season is right around the corner with a new trailer that goes headfirst into the horror that they have dipped their toes in throughout its first 5 seasons by teasing a crossover with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Just in time for Halloween no less.
This is no surprise since earlier in the month the series announced that Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Kiernan Shipka) would be arriving in Riverdale this season. The trailer opens up where the last season left off showing that Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) has gone full-blown witch-cult leader. We are shown shots of strange runes like something straight out of The Blair Witch Project and Archie (K.J. Apa) proclaiming “This is Cheryl. It got to be” with Cheryl herself saying “we must return to the old ways”. What follows is spooky imagery involving Seances, a woman in black, “the devil”, and classic Riverdale romantic shenanigans.
One line in particular said by Betty (Lili Reinhart) to Archie stating “there is nothing more that I want than to have your baby” could be hinting at a possible darker storyline for our favorite ponytail mystery solver. Things like a shot of Betty’s face smeared with blood could lead into demonic possession territory. Arguably crazier things have happened in the town of Riverdale these past 5 years so that is not out of the realm of possibility.
However, what everyone is wondering is how Sabrina will play into the series this season as the trailer finishes with her turning to the camera with her classic red getup and black headband seemingly having a preexisting relationship with Cheryl. When we last saw Sabrina she died in her series, which then abruptly got canceled soon after 4 seasons on Netflix. That specific storyline is set to continue in a new comic book series The Occult World of Sabrina written by Riverdale creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. He also worked on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as a producer, writer, and director.
Sacasa has been teasing a Sabrina appearance in Riverdale for years now including giving numerous name drops to their neighboring town of Greendale where Sabrina lives. It is surprising that it took this long to get this teenage witch on the show, but she is finally here in grand fashion. It will be interesting to see if this is the same version of the character we saw in her show or a new incarnation.
Riverdale season 5 finished off Archies' high school years and jumped seven years into another explosive murder mystery that included the legendary Mothman and an Alien conspiracy. After five seasons of Scooby-Doo-like mysteries and reveals, Riverdale looks to be taking a page out of the 2013 comic book series Afterlife With Archie, which also featured Sabrina and went full supernatural. Season six of Riverdale starts off with the 5 episode event featuring Sabrina on Tuesday, November 16 and Stars Apa, Reinhart, Shipka, Petsch, Camila Mendes, and Cole Sprouse.
You can watch the full teaser down below.