Riverdale fans are finally going to get in touch with their magical side, but they may have to wait a while before Sabrina flies onto their TV screens again. On Wednesday, Sept. 20, the CW made the announcement that every Riverdale viewer has been speculating about and waiting for since the show premiered: Sabrina the Teenage Witch is officially joining the franchise. And she won't just be a guest star or recurring character on Riverdale — Sabrina is getting her own spinoff series, called The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. So of course, the next question is when will the Riverdale Sabrina spinoff premiere? Unfortunately, fans are going to have go be a little patient as we wait for the Sabrina spinoff, but it sounds like it won't be a crazy-long wait.
Apparently, the CW is looking at the 2018-2019 TV season to premiere the new spinoff, so it's likely The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will kick off in the fall of 2018 alongside the third season of Riverdale. That's a year we will have to wait to see Sabrina, if all goes as planned, which isn't too bad of a wait in the grand scheme of things. And even though her series probably won't premiere until the end of next year, that doesn't mean Riverdale fans won't meet Sabrina Spellman sooner than that. Although nothing has been confirmed, it's entirely possible Sabrina might first pop up in the upcoming second season of Riverdale ahead of her spinoff premiere.
Fans of Archie Comics have been waiting for its adaptation series Riverdale to introduce fan-favorite character Sabrina the Teenage Witch since the show premiered earlier this year. Around the time of the first season finale, there was a lot of speculation among fans over whether Sabrina would show up, and there have been a lot of rumors about Disney Channel star Dove Cameron taking on the role, but so far, Riverdale fans have been left without any magic in the broody teen drama.
In the same way that the CW reinvented the sunny Archie Comics into a dark murder mystery with Riverdale, it sounds like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will take on a similarly dark tone, and delve even further into the horror genre than Riverdale has. The CW revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that the Sabrina spinoff will be an hour-long drama about the young witch trying to fit into the mortal world while also fighting off evil, magical forces that threaten her and everyone around her.
The network lists horror classics like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby as tonal inspirations, so it's pretty clear that The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will be nothing like the hit '90s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, in which Melissa Joan Hart portrayed the iconic character. Instead of a cheery, oftentimes silly sitcom, it sounds like the new take on Sabrina Spellman will be incredibly dark and dramatic, and possibly even scary.
Since both Riverdale and the new Sabrina spinoff will be showrun by the CW's go-to hit-maker Greg Berlanti, there could definitely be some crossover action between the two shows. Berlanti is also behind the network's biggest franchise: the four-show DC Universe superhero block made up of Arrow, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, and Supergirl. Those series have crossed over into one another countless times, including a massive four-show crossover event this past season. If this is any indication of how crossover-happy Berlanti can be with any of his shows, then expect to see Sabrina rubbing elbows with Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead more than a few times in both Riverdale and The Chilling Adventure of Sabrina.
