Warning: Major SPOILERS for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 3.
A frequent question that fans of Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina have is whether or not the two series exist in the same universe. The answer is that they technically they do share a universe, but it's more complicated than a simple yes or no. Riverdale's current fourth season on The CW and the recently released Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 3 on Netflix further reinforce this.
Riverdale is based on the characters from Archie Comics and first debuted in 2017. The series, developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, primarily focuses on Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, and Veronica Lodge as they face life at high school and the tumultuous events that seem to find their way to the town of Riverdale. That same year, a TV series based on the Archie Comics series written by Aguirre-Sacasa, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, went into development with the intention of being a companion series to Riverdale on The CW. In fact, Sabrina Spellman was supposed to appear in Riverdale before headlining her own show. That plan changed when the series moved to Netflix.
Rumors of a major crossover have continued over the years, but there are no current plans in the works. Aguirre-Sacasa is outspoken about his hope of crossing over the two series in a major way before it's too late. He has also played with the idea of creating a standalone film with the casts of Riverdale and Sabrina based on the comics series, Afterlife with Archie. For now, fans will have to be satisfied with the small connections and crossovers. Thankfully there a quite a few, serving as a subtle but regular reminder that Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina exist in the same universe.
Riverdale and Greendale Are Neighboring Towns
In Archie Comics, Riverdale and Greendale are said to be nearby towns. Greendale is the home of Sabrina and the primary setting of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Greendale is depicted as Riverdale's neighboring town, with the two residing on opposite sides of Sweetwater River. The existence of Greendale was first confirmed in Riverdale season 1, when Jason and Cheryl Blossom crossed the river so that Jason could fake his death. The town of Greendale came into focus in season 2 when one of its residents, Ms. Geraldine Grundy, was murdered by the Black Hood. Later in the season, Jughead and Archie are forced to deliver drugs to Greendale at the request of Penny Peabody.
The proximity of Riverdale and Greendale is showcased again through Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 3. Sabrina and Ambrose Spellman find themselves taking a trip to Riverdale in "Chapter Twenty-Three: Heavy is the Crown," in search of an ancient crown belonging to King Herod. Ambrose figures out that it once belonged to a Blossom ancestor, so they are led to the Riverdale woods where the Blossom family's maple trees grow. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 3 also happened to drop just after an episode of Riverdale featured a Baxter High football player, and notable bully of Theo Putnam, as one of Betty's interviewees. The Riverdale Bulldogs are also said to be the rivals of the Baxter High Ravens.
Riverdale and Sabrina Have A Lot of Connections
The towns' locations aren't the only indication of a shared universe. Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina also feature a handful of connections via crossover cameos and Easter eggs. On more than one occasion the shows have used the same actors in different roles, since they are produced by the same companies. Moses Thiessen was the first actor to appear as the same character in both shows, playing Ben Button in Riverdale before appearing as "Ben the Pizza Guy" in Sabrina season 1. Ben was supposedly killed and eaten by Lilith, but later returned to Riverdale before he committed suicide due to insanity caused by playing Griffins and Gargoyles. Ben dying twice actually contradicts the idea of both shows being set in the same universe, fitting better with the idea of parallel universes.
Aside from the Baxter bully already mentioned, Penelope Blossom is another recent cameo that connects the two shows to a shared universe. Nathalie Boltt appears in a brief role in Sabrina season 3 - although she's not actually playing Penelope Blossom, but Prudence in disguise (perhaps because Prudence has met Penelope and decided to borrow her likeness). The season also sees spider-Hilda eating someone wearing a Southside Serpent leather jacket while Doctor Cerberus pays a visit to Pop’s Chock’ lit Shoppe - a Riverdale staple - to get her diner food.
Sabrina and Riverdale Are Set in the Same Universe - Sort Of
The connections created by all of these crossovers, references, and cameos are indisputable, but the difference in mythology complicates the shared universe between Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. There's no question that very odd events occur in Riverdale on a regular basis - from drug lords to serial killers to organ-farming cults - but they stay out of the realm of magic. Aguirre-Sacasa once shared in an interview (via EW) that there's no magic or supernatural beings in Riverdale but "on the other side of the mythic river, which is sort of like the River Styx, there’s magic and witches and dark Lovecraftian horrors."
Greendale is the site of where Lucifer Morningstar, Sabrina's father, landed when he fell from heaven. It links the mortal world to Hell, which is why so many witches settled in the town dating back to the Salem Witch trials in an attempt to avoid prosecution. The surviving witches formed the Church of Night, but they tried to hide in plain sight. The struggles faced by Sabrina and her family have threatened the coven as well as the mortal world, but they continuously try to keep the non-magical realm out of their conflicts. This subsequently serves as a legitimate reason as to why magic and the supernatural aren't elements in Riverdale. For now, the nexus between realms will remain in Greendale and the magic won't be felt or encountered unless Riverdale characters travel to Sabrina's town, or Sabrina and her fellow witches visit Archie and his pals.
Even though Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina have laid the foundation confirming that the two series exist in the same universe, some viewers won't be totally convinced until there's a major crossover event. That's easier said than done, since Riverdale is a CW show and Sabrina is distributed by Netflix. A proper crossover will most likely happen at some point in the future, but for now the two series are like ships passing in the night.