Greg Berlanti is the executive producer behind The CW's entire slate of DC Comics superhero shows -- Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow -- but has branched out to a different kind of classic comic character for his next upcoming series. Executive produced by Berlanti, Riverdale is based on the classic characters from Archie Comics, and was developed by the comic publisher's chief creative officer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Though it was originally thought to land at Fox, The CW picked up Riverdale for its first season.
The pilot for Riverdale screened at Comic-Con International in San Diego this summer, but the series was scheduled to debut at the midseason point, with the premiere set for the end of January. As such, The CW has only recently begun its big push for teasing the series premiere of Riverdale, with the first promo arriving last month. Now, an extended trailer for Riverdale offers fans a better idea of what to expect from the Archie-based series.
The CW released the Riverdale season 1 extended trailer [above] featuring all the usual suspects from the comics: Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa), his best friend Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), girl-next-door Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), and posh rich girl Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes). However, as the trailer -- and the full synopsis for Riverdale season 1 -- makes clear, The CW's adaptation is a much darker, more dramatic take on the characters with which fans grew up. The Archie Comics Twitter account additionally revealed a billboard ad for the series, take a look:
Between the tagline on the billboard ad, "Leave your innocence behind," and that from the extended trailer, "Welcome to a town where everything is perfect but nothing is as it seems," Riverdale season 1 will undoubtedly dive deep into the darker side of Archie's hometown. As the trailer details, the series will kick off with the town reeling from the murder of a local teenager -- Jason Blossom, whose sister Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) attends school with Archie and his friends. The mystery of Jason's death will be a throughline of season 1, and likely aided in Riverdale being compared to Twin Peaks in early descriptions of the show.
That said, the Riverdale extended trailer additionally teases plenty of high school drama between Archie's relationship with his music teacher Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel), Jughead discovering their secret relationship, Betty asking Archie whether he loves her, and the arrival of Veronica in local staple Pop's Chocklit Shoppe. As a CW series, Riverdale seems poised to deliver all the teen drama expected from the network -- albeit with a murder mystery spin that isn't quite as common to the younger skewing channel.
Of course, whether the high school drama and dark mystery of Riverdale is successful with the series' audience remains to be seen. The show's extended trailer highlights the exceptional differences between Riverdale and the Archie Comics, and it's unclear whether such changes will alienate longtime fans of the characters. That said, it's just as possible Riverdale will be able to stand on its own, so long as the show delivers a compelling first season. Either way, viewers will get a chance to decide for themselves when Riverdale premieres next month.
Next: Riverdale Poster Brings Together Archie and His Friends
Riverdale premieres Thursday January 26th, 2017 @9pm on The CW.
Source: The CW, Twitter