The official Instagram account of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina posted an image of actress Kiernan Shipka standing between two of the stars from CW’s Riverdale, potentially teasing a crossover episode. Although both shows are on different networks, both are based on characters that initially appeared in the pages of Archie Comics. In fact, the character Sabrina Spellman was first introduced in a 1962 comic called Archie’s Mad House, by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo.
Connections between Sabrina and Riverdale have been teased since the latter’s first season, when the existence of Sabrina’s hometown, Greendale, was mentioned as the place Jason Blossom tried to fake his death. Greendale was mentioned again when Archie and his best pal Jughead went there for a drug deal. Most recently, the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s third season saw Sabrina and her cousin Ambrose Spellman visit Riverdale in search of an ancient artifact that once belonged to a Blossom ancestor. Riverdale’s Pop’s Chock’ lit Shoppe was named in Sabrina’s third season as well, plus keen-eyed viewers noticed a Southside Serpent jacket on one of Aunt Hilda’s unfortunate victims (when she was in spider form).
Sabrina’s Instagram account added more speculative fuel to the fire, after posting a picture of Shipka, in costume, with actors KJ Apa and Casey Cott, Riverdale’s Archie Andrews and Kevin Keller, respectively. Neither Apa nor Cott appears to be in costume, but Shipka is unmistakably dressed as Sabrina, right down to the iconic platinum blonde hair and black headband. Before you get too excited, it should be noted that this picture appears to have been taken in 2018, as the actors are wearing the same clothes seen in a different photo of them posted to Shipka’s personal Instagram. Still, it’s notable the official Netflix account for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina posted the image with the caption, “Riverdale is a big, scary place…”
Riverdale is currently in the middle of its fourth season, scheduled to return on February 26, 2020, with six episodes left to air. The big revelation at the end of episode 13 seemed to confirm that Jughead was murdered by his girlfriend Betty. Assuming the rest of Riverdale season 4 doesn’t lead up to Jughead’s return - perhaps with a reveal that the death was a fakeout - then it’s possible Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, an executive producer on both shows, is setting the stage for a major crossover.
In a comic book written by Aguirre-Sacasa, called Afterlife With Archie, Jughead travels to Greendale after his beloved dog is killed, and asks Sabrina to bring it back to life with her magic. She does, but in typical Sabrina fashion, it has some unforeseen, horrific consequences: The dog is brought back as a zombie, who bites Jughead and ignites an undead apocalypse. Maybe, on TV, Archie and the Riverdale gang take Jughead to Greendale and ask Sabrina to bring him back to life, sparking a similar fate?
The potential crossover between Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Riverdale holds a lot of exciting implications. Even if they don’t decide to venture down the Afterlife With Archie road, there’s still plenty of fun to be had watching the kids from Riverdale react to the supernatural chaos that abounds in Greendale.
More: Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: The 10 Most Shameless Things Sabrina Has Ever Done
Source: SabrinaNetflix via Instagram
