Sabrina Spellman’s appearance on Riverdale will address the ending of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The latest season of Riverdale kicked off with a five-part event series titled “Rivervale,” which has taken the show in a very different direction dealing with the supernatural and the occult. This has set the stage for the arrival of another Archie comics character, Sabrina Spellman, to make her appearance on Riverdale.
Originally developed for The CW after the success of Riverdale, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina eventually moved over to Netflix and aired for four seasons from 2018 to 2020. The series was abruptly ended and had Sabrina die in the final episode, a controversial move among many fans of the series and even series star Kiernan Shipka. When it was announced that Shipka would reprise her role as Sabrina on Riverdale, the question remained if the events of the crossover would take place before or after her final episode.
In an interview with The Wrap, Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said that the final episode of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will be alluded to. The character is not just appearing on the series because Rivervale appears to take place apart from the main series says Sacasa. Sacasa also hinted that this may not be the last audience see of Sabrina on Riverdale. Sacasa said:
“The end of Sabrina is definitely alluded to and referenced and I will say, no, Sabrina is not appearing just because we’re in Rivervale. It started with everyone wanted [a crossover]. At the same time, The CW was excited by the possibility, Netflix was excited about the possibility, Warner Bros. has always been excited about the possibility. And you want to make these events special. And in terms of the most special thing that could have happened, the most meaningful appearance of a character, or the most meaningful crossover, in the most meaningful overlapping storyline, is Sabrina. It’s not a question. Of anyone you could bring back or bring to, there’s no one. We brought Josie and the Pussycats back. But what everyone has always asked is, when is Sabrina coming to ‘Riverdale’? So it felt like OK, if we want to really make this an event and kind of make sure that it’s special, that’s the one thing, if we can figure out how to do it, that’s the one thing we should really try to do. And by the way, Kiernan was such a trooper. She was doing a million other things. But it was great and it’s kind of perfect. She makes so much sense. It was pretty cool. Without saying or spoiling anything I can say, yes, there is a chance we will see Kiernan as Sabrina later on in ‘Riverdale.’ Yes, there’s a chance.”
If Sabrina were to reappear on Riverdale, it is unlikely it would be in a series regular role given star Shipka’s busy schedule. She is currently filming the film Wildflower along with two television series, the lead in Swimming with Sharks, which was originally set to air on Quibi before it shut down, and the HBO series The White House Plumbers. Sabrina appearing in another guest appearance, or even a recurring role in future episodes would certainly be a nice reward for fans of both series and a possible way to breathe some new life into Riverdale after it lost 45% of viewers between season 5 and season 6.
Since it premiered in 2017, Riverdale has been a hit on The CW with the second season seeing a massive increase in viewers following the first season dropping on Netflix. The Archie comics were filled with characters for the creators to spin-off, with The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in 2018 and Katy Keene in 2020. However, both spin-off series ended before Riverdale, with Katy Keene canceled after only one season. Lili Reinhart, who plays Betty Cooper, hinted that Riverdale season 7 could be their last, and so the appearance of Sabrina is a welcome one for many and could lay the groundwork for a fitting final end for the beloved series.
