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CW’s ‘Riverdale’ Is Grittier Than Your Archie Comics, Cast Tells Fans Not To Expect A Sunny Town

By Eunice Alcala
Published on: 04:55 PST, May 20, 2016

Following CW’s release of its Riverdale trailer, it should be clear by now that the town Archie Comics fans are fond of is no longer the same. The new series now features a town haunted by a murder case. Misbehaving students in letterman jackets will be common in the upcoming show, and viewers will witness the characters unearth the town’s dark secrets. Riverdale might look like a quiet town, but there is certainly more going on than meets the eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3NxIg3tuUo

Riverdale is far from the sunny town famous in the Archie Comics because the show is filmed in a gritty way. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Cole Sprouse, who will play Jughead Jones, said that fans must not expect a show in a cheerful setting.

“Inherently, the show is a little bit grittier. We’re taking very heavy cues from a small series within the actual Archie digest in which Jughead was kind of like a detective and a sleuth.”

Camila Mendes, who will give life to Veronica Lodge’s role, echoed her co-star’s sentiment and compared Riverdale to Twin Peaks.

“Oh my gosh, it’s so much grittier. We’re comparing it to Twin Peaks. The tone, I mean; it’s not the pace of Twin Peaks. This is upbeat, but there are mystery elements. It’s pretty cinematic too in the way that it’s shot. It’s different — it’s not the Riverdale you know.”

The two Riverdale stars admitted that they weren’t readers of Archie Comics prior to being cast. Nonetheless, they started going through the comics after receiving the casting news. For Cole, Archie Comics has an “extremely long-lived and loyal fanbase” that will serve as the show’s pillar. He assured fans that they will make Jughead “the right Jughead,” a character that viewers will like.

Camila, on the other hand, described the type of Veronica viewers would see.

“Someone asked me once, ‘Which decade of Veronica are you going to be?’ But for me, at the end of the day, she’s the same Veronica. She’s going to be sassy. She’s going to be the one with all the sarcastic remarks, but I think people are going to appreciate that in the show she’s trying to be a good girl. Like, she’s trying to be a good girl but she’s not very good at it.”

The CW already released an official description of Riverdale. The show opens with the death of famous highschooler Jason Blossom. Archie Andrews is out to pursue his passion for music, a far cry from what his father prefers. However, the popular American teen doesn’t have a mentor anymore after his forbidden romance with Riverdale’s music teacher, Ms. Grundy, went down the drain.

Archie can’t rely on Josie McCoy because all she wants is to train the “soon-to-be-world famous Pussycats.” On top of Archie’s woes is his increasingly strained friendship with Jughead.

Girl-next-door Betty Cooper is still pining for Archie despite leaving the town for summer. As she tries to think of ways on how to reveal her feelings for Archie, New Yorker Veronica Lodge enters the picture. The newcomer realizes the connection between her and Archie, but will she take things to a different level knowing Betty’s feelings for him?

Riverdale will also introduce Cheryl Blossom’s character, the Queen Bee who will bring trouble to Archie, Betty, and Veronica’s lives. Cheryl has her own secrets too, and some of them might be about the mystifying death of her twin brother Jason.

Needless to say, Riverdale won’t complement the light appeal of the Archie Comics first released in 1939, and producers have yet to determine the fans’ reactions. The release date of Riverdale’s first episode, “The River’s Edge,” will be announced soon.

[Image via The CW]

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