You can’t keep a good witch down: Sabrina Spellman is being resurrected for season 6 of Riverdale. Kiernan Shipka will appear in season 6 of the CW’s Riverdale, reprising her role as the teen witch.
Shipka previously starred in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which ran for 2 seasons (split into 4 parts) on Netflix. Unfortunately, the series was canceled soon after as part of the wave of COVID-19 cancellations last year. However, Sabrina lives on in the upcoming comic book series The Occult World of Sabrina, which continues the narrative of the series.
Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Weekly, “We’ve been talking about having Sabrina visit Riverdale since season 1, so it’s thrilling that this is finally happening, as part of our ‘Rivervale’ special event, … It’s also perfect that she shows up to help Cheryl Blossom during her hour of greatest need. Everyone on set lost their minds — I think fans will, too. It’s really fun and special.”
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Shipka will appear in season 6’s fourth episode, titled “The Witching Hour(s),” where she will help Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) to perform a a dangerous spell, after Cheryl discovers she may be descended from witches. In an interview with Deadline, Aguirre-Sacasa discussed plans to incorporate the Riverdale cast in CAOS’s third season, which ultimately never came to pass.
He said, “When I got word we weren’t doing any additional parts or seasons we had already suspected four would be the last part, so we really wanted to go out with a bang. We had Sabrina sacrifice herself to save her family, her friends, her town. On the other hand, we didn’t know definitely so we did end on a cliffhanger. I finished editing the finale at the beginning of the pandemic and pitched a possible part five to Netflix which would’ve produced Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and all the Riverdale characters as witches and there would’ve been a witch war between the witches in Greendale versus all of these witches and warlocks in Riverdale. Netflix was excited about that idea but due to the pandemic, it didn’t feel possible.”
The only question is, how will Riverdale resurrect Sabrina Spellman, who died in the series finale of CAOS? Well, no one ever really dies in Greendale or Riverdale, given Aguirre-Sacasa’s passion for resurrection pits, retcons, and fake deaths.
As for Sabrina’s role on Riverdale? Would love to see her get into some witchy shenanigans with Cheryl Blossom. Season 5 of Riverdale just wrapped, with season 6 set to be released in 2021. Hopefully Shipka’s appearance will wrap up some of those dangling plot threads left behind by the CAOS finale.
And given Riverdale‘s soapy penchant for the supernatural, I wouldn’t mind if more CAOS characters make an appearance. Honestly, just merge the shows and give us a modern-day Passions already.
(via EW, image: Netflix)
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