CW's 'Riverdale' shows the darker side of Archie and friends

What we saw in the first trailer.
 By 
Sandra Gonzalez
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

If the first trailer for The CW's take on the Archie comics made anything clear, it's that Riverdale isn't exactly the sunny town we know from the comic books.

In Riverdale, a new series coming to CW in midseason, the titular town is a place with murder, teacher-student affairs and a lot of badly behaving gingers.


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The death in question is that if Jason Blossom, a classic character from the comics who in the first trailer for the show is center of a murder investigation that begins to unearth some of the town's many secrets. 

CW unveiled the new promo for the series, which comes from super producer Greg Berlanti, at its annual Upfront presentation on Thursday, and while the network is holding off releasing it, it's not inaccurate to say the show is darker than many expected. Riverdale, at least judging from the short first look, looks like Cruel Intentions with more letterman jackets. 

The series, too, is not exactly a blue skies show; it's filmed in a dark, stylized way that feeds into the mystery being built. 

Here's the official description is below:   

As a new school year begins, the town of Riverdale is reeling from the recent, tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom — and nothing feels the same… Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) is still the all-American teen, but the summer’s events made him realize that he wants to pursue a career in music -- not follow in his dad’s footsteps -- despite the sudden end of his forbidden relationship with Riverdale’s young music teacher, Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel). Which means Archie doesn’t have anyone who will mentor him -- certainly not singer Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), who is only focused on her band, the soon-to-be-world-famous Pussycats. It’s all weighing heavily on Archie’s mind -- as is his fractured friendship with budding writer and fellow classmate Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse). Meanwhile, girl-next-door Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) is anxious to see her crush Archie after being away all summer, but she’s not quite ready to reveal her true feelings to him. And Betty’s nerves -- which are hardly soothed by her overbearing mother Alice (Mädchen Amick) aren’t the only thing holding her back. When a new student, Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), arrives in town from New York with her mother Hermione (Marisol Nichols), there’s an undeniable spark between her and Archie, even though Veronica doesn’t want to risk her new friendship with Betty by making a play for Archie. And then there’s Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch)... Riverdale’s Queen Bee is happy to stir up trouble amongst Archie, Betty, and Veronica, but Cheryl is keeping secrets of her own. What, exactly, is she hiding about the mysterious death of her twin brother, Jason? Riverdale may look like a quiet, sleepy town, but there are dangers in the shadows... 

Meanwhile, CW premiered the trailers for two of its other new shows, including a rom-com about living your best life and a trippy new drama from Supernatural executive producer Jeremy Carver. 

You can watch those trailers below.

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Sandra Gonzalez

Sandra Gonzalez was a Senior Television Reporter at Mashable. A Texas native, she spent almost four years in New York City before leaving the land of superstorms for Los Angeles, where she was introduced to these terrifying things called "rolling earthquakes."Previously, she was with Entertainment Weekly, where she wrote about every show that could fit into her perfectly crafted TV schedule and anything ever touched by Shonda Rhimes.You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @theSandraG

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