Riverdale season 4: Release date, news, spoilers, cast and trailer
9 October 2019, 19:40
All the latest information about the cast, storyline, theories and trailers for Riverdale season 4.
With Riverdale season 4 about to begin on The CW, everyone is in full sleuth mode trying to gathering the hints and collect the tea. The ending of season 3 brought some surprising exits and some very surprising entrances and also teased a huge cliffhanger final scene that hinted at the possible death of Jughead. (Is Cole Sprouse leaving the show?! More on that in a sec...)
The latest news? The new trailer for season 4 teases romance, neighbourhood violence, even more drama and appears to hint that Jughead being buried alive is the work of his classmates at Stonewall prep. Watch the new trailer at the top of the page.
READ MORE: When does Riverdale season 4 start on Netflix?
Season 4, episode 1 (titled 'In Memoriam') will pay tribute to Luke Perry, who passed away in March 2019, and honour the legacy of Fred Andrews. It will be a standalone episode in which Luke's Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty will also appear.
Ahead of the release date, show runner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa shared an emotional image of Archie (KJ Apa) and Mary Andrews (Molly Ringwald) in a tearful embrace, presumably after hearing the news that Fred has passed away.
READ MORE: All the details about Riverdale's "tear-jerking" Luke Perry tribute episode
Has Riverdale season 4 been renewed? Will there be a Riverdale season 4?
Yes! Season 4 has now officially been confirmed by The CW and will be returning for another round of teenage sleuthing and sex-capades in October 2019.
Riverdale season 4 start date: When will Riverdale season 4 start on Netflix?
Riverdale season 4 will premiere on Wednesday October 9th at 8pm EST on The CW.
As always, Riverdale will air on The CW on Wednesday night in the US and will drop on Netflix the next day on Thursday for everyone in the UK, or internationally.
Riverdale season 4, episode 1 (4x01) will be released on Netflix on Thursday October 10th at 8am GMT.
How many episodes will be in Riverdale season 4?
The season will likely consist of around 22 episodes, just like seasons 2 and 3.
The titles of the episodes so far are, according to SpoilerTV:
4x01 - 'Chapter Fifty-Eight: In Memoriam'
4x02 - 'Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fast Times at Riverdale High'
4x03 - 'Chapter Sixty: Dog Day Afternoon'
4x04 - 'Chapter Sixty-One: Halloween'
4x05 - 'Chapter Sixty-Two: Witness for the Prosecution'
4x06 - 'Chapter Sixty-Three: Hereditary'
4x07 - 'Chapter Sixty-Four: The Ice Storm'
4x08 - 'Chapter Sixty-Five: The Chimera'
The Chimera is coming. #Riverdale 408. Filming this week. 👠💎🔥☠️🍷⭐️ pic.twitter.com/lQvD0AFx3P
— RobertoAguirreSacasa (@WriterRAS) September 25, 2019
What’s going to happen in Riverdale season 4?
At Comic Con 2019, the cast also revealed a ton of new details about season 4, including new characters, details about Halloween, musical and flashback themed episodes. Read the full report of everything they revealed here.
Season 3 wrapped up several ongoing storylines that spanned the whole series so far. The Gargoyle King (orchestrated by Penelope Blossom) is over, the Black Hood (Hal Cooper) is now dead, Chic is in jail and Jason Blossom is 100% dead af. Apart from the overhang of the Farm storyline, season 4 looks like it'll be starting fresh.
We do have one new mystery though: what happened to Jughead during spring break senior year? Did he... die?!
In a flash forward in the final scene, Archie, Betty and Veronica can be seen covered in blood in front of a fire, burning their clothes and Jug's iconic beanie. Jug is no where to be seen. Aguirre-Sacasa has teased that while they're still throwing around a few ideas for what could have happened there, it likely won't be addressed until the middle of season 4.
For now, Cole Sprouse is on set and Jughead is alive at the start of the season. He will be attending prep school and will only be in Riverdale at the weekend.
There's also the case of several missing people. FBI informant (!!) Alice, Polly and Fangs have "ascended" with the Farm and are now MIA. With the help of Charles Smith (yes, the Charles. The real one, who is a ridiculously gorgeous FBI agent), Betty will likely be pretty busy trying to sleuth their whereabouts. This storyline will be wrapped up within the first couple of episodes, culminating in a HUGE action packed showdown in episode 3.
Other things season 3 will also likely explore: the whereabouts of Penelope Blossom, Jason's corpse currently residing at Thistlehouse, Cheryl's mental health, Veronica and Reggie's relationship or lack thereof and Charles' relationship with his half-siblings and his parents, Alice and FP. But the biggest question of all remains: Will Toni Topaz ever get a backstory? (Apparently, yes!)
As of episode 7, it also appears that Hiram and Hermione are both out of jail.
Speaking to PopBuzz, Cole Sprouse also revealed where he would like to see Jughead go in season 4. "I think there's a lot of potential and a lot of interesting narratives this season in the form of FP and Jughead teaming up and playing the True Detective crime investigator father/son duo," Sprouse said.
"I think there's something really enjoyable about Jughead being the brain and FP being the brawn of that investigation. That's something I'd personally like to see going into season 4."
Following the passing of Luke Perry, it now looks like the show will send Fred off in an emotional way. For now, it's been explained that Fred is out of town but show-runner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has confirmed that the show will be addressing his absence on screen.
How will Riverdale address Luke Perry's death?
Luke will be honoured at the beginning of season 4. It was explained at the end of season 3 that Fred Andrews was out of town. Molly Ringwald came back as Mary Andrews to fill the gaps where Fred would have played a role in Archie's storyline.
Because the writers had already written the finale when Luke passed away on March 4th, Aguirre-Sacasa told Variety that they felt "trying to squeeze [a storyline] in would have been a disservice.”
The loss of Luke will in form and change what the Season 4 storylines will be, "especially in terms of Archie’s story but really in the overall tone of the show,” he told Vanity Fair.
The first episode of season 4 will be called 'In Memoriam' and will see Archie find out about his father's passing and see the town pay tribute to one of its own. Writing on social media, Aguirre-Sacasa said: "Probably the most important episode of #Riverdale we’ll do this year, if not ever. A tribute to our fallen friend. Thankful for this opportunity to honor Luke & Fred."
The cast were shooting episode 1 on location in Fort Langley where a parade for Fred was taking place. Several homemade banners and signs were spotted by HollywoodNorth.buzz reading, 'we'll miss you forever Fred', 'Fred Andrews always in our hearts' and 'RIP Fred'. The cast have also been spotted in black suits and funeral attire.
Fred Andrews: Always in Our Hearts.
— YVRShoots (@yvrshoots) July 17, 2019
American flags are at half-mast for #Riverdale's Fred Andrews Parade in Fort Langley.
(https://t.co/gUyVgbtKYj) #LukePerry pic.twitter.com/anqv1f0gVB
Which characters will be in Riverdale season 4?
Ashleigh Murray has wrapped on Riverdale ahead of filming for spin-off Katy Keene. where she'll play a 20-something Josie McCoy. Josie exited the show in season 3, episode 19 but she will return for 4x01.
The rest of the series regular cast members should return. The core four will likely be back for another season (KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Cole Sprouse, Camila Mendes), along with Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch), Kevin (Casey Cott), Toni (Vanessa Morgan) and Reggie (Charles Melton).
As for the parents? As of right now, it looks like Alice Cooper Smith (Mädchen Amick), FP Jones (Skeet Ulrich), Tom Keller (Martin Cummins) and Sierra McCoy (Robin Givens) will all be back for more scenes of iconic questionable parenting. The now incarcerated Hermione Lodge (Marisol Nichols) and Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos) will no doubt be back and Mary Andrews (Molly Ringwald) will also like be taking on a bigger role.
Penelope Blossom (Nathalie Boltt) could return but will likely be missing for a large chunk of the season - because Penelope is currently on the run.
We'll also be seeing more of Jellybean Jones (Trinity Likins) in season 4 but as far as Gladys Jones (Gina Gershon) goes? Who knows. Gladys skipped town after Jellybean was kidnapped but it might be likely that she'll return at some point in the future... unfortunately.
Characters who will not return because they died in season 3 are: Dilton Doiley (Major Curda), Ben Button (Moses Thiessen), Joaquin DeSantos (Rob Raco), Claudius Blossom (Barclay Hope), Sheriff Minetta (Henderson Wade), Tall Boy (Scott McNeil), Kurtz (Jonathan Whitesell) and Hal Cooper (Lochlyn Munro).
Who are the new characters in Riverdale season 4?
Luke Perry's close friend and Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty will play a "pivotal, super-emotional role" in episode 1. “Shannen plays the person who tells us what happened to Fred,” Aguirre-Sacasa told EW. “She was there and she’s an unexpected source of comfort to Archie. A big piece of what happened to Fred comes to Archie through Shannen’s character.
Also joining the cast is Kerr Smith as Principal Honey. According to his character description, Mr Honey is "a bit of a hard-ass who takes a harder line with the students this year, especially with the seniors." He will appear in episode 2.
It was also announced that Supergirl's Sam Witwer would be joining the cast as Jughead's prep school teacher Mr Chipping. According to his character description, creative writing teacher Chipping is “handsome, bookish and cool...While he's eminently inspiring to his students, there's a darkness hidden far beneath the surface.” Of course there is.
Juan Riedinger will be joining the cast as Dodger, Archie's nemesis (another one?!) and Mishel Prada joins as Hermosa, a private investigator who is also Veronica's older half-sister. Hiram is her father but Hermione is not her mother so... there's another family secret that V will have to deal with.
Will Riverdale season 4 crossover with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina?
Show runner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has said "never say never" when it comes to future crossovers between the two but currently, there are no confirmed plans. While there were plans very early on to introduce Sabrina on Riverdale, it was later decided that CAOS would be it's own stand-alone show, not a spin-off.
That being said, Riverdale's Ben Button appeared in CAOS as a pizza delivery boy, confirming that the two shows existed within the same universe and that the potential for more cameos could be possible. However, Ben appeared to die in both shows. So while we know they are in the same universe, the question is whether or not they exist in the same continuity? And if they don't, how will that affect a potential crossover? Just one to think about...
Will Riverdale season 4 crossover with Katy Keene?
Unlike Sabrina, Katy Keene will air on The CW, which makes a potential crossover a little easier. There will also be no back-door pilot to establish the new character within Riverdale but a crossover could soon be on the cards.
Katy Keene will be set in the future so it's likely that the crossovers will take place on katy Keene as opposed to Riverdale. Josie McCoy will be a twenty-something year old on the show, while her friends back in Riverdale will remain teenagers.
Executive producer Michael Grassi revealed at Tribeca TV Festival that we “will definitely see someone from Riverdale and K.O. [Katy's boyfriend, KO Kelly] face off in the ring.”
Aguirre-Sacasa also revealed that “we definitely will be seeing the Pussycats, but probably not in the way you expect.”
Josie's mum Sierra McCoy will also likely be popping up too.
Just like in Sabrina, there will no doubt be plenty of references and quips that reference Riverdale and everything that went on over there - especially if Josie is around. She's not going to never mention her hometown or her old friends again, is she?
