It’s a sad day for fans of Archie, Betty, Jughead and Veronica because Riverdale finally has an end date. Season seven will be the last for the popular and long-running teen show, based on the Archie Comics. It is likely to debut in the tail end of 2023, but can’t say for sure yet.
Unlike many other shows on The CW – which were abruptly and unceremoniously cancelled in a big cull recently (which one showrunner described as akin to the Red Wedding) – Riverdale is coming to a more natural conclusion that has probably been in the works for a while. Riverdale found a much bigger audience once the show was added to Netflix.
Riverdale’s sixth season is currently airing, and the show has over 100 episodes. It has taken the source material and characters from the comics in increasingly bizarre directions, including making Archie a gangster, Jughead faking his own death, Betty working for the FBI, and Archie dating his teacher. There have even been alternative timelines and multiverses – nowhere is safe.
Archie Comics is the home of popular teen characters Archie and Jughead, as well as Sabrina Spellman – seen in the 1990s TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch and the more recent Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – and Josie & the Pussycats (made into a movie in 2001). Riverdale has featured crossovers with both Sabrina and Josie.
It will be interesting to see where Riverdale actors KJ Apa, Cole Sprouse, Lili Reinhart, and Camila Mendes go once the show has finished. Reinhart has probably had the most successful movie career of the four so far, appearing in Hustlers, Charlie’s Angels, and Chemical Hearts. Sprouse was of course already a successful child actor before appearing in Riverdale.
While we wait for more news on Riverdale’s seventh and final season, check out our guide to the best teen movies.