Photos Of The New 'Riverdale' Character Prove This Season Is Going To Be Dark AF

October is here, y'all, and if there is one thing to look forward to in the coming weeks — aside from, ya know, the most fun holiday of the year — it's the return of Riverdale for its sophomore season. Season 2 of the Archie comics-based drama hits television on Wednesday, October 11 and I think I speak for fans everywhere when I say I can't wait to see what's in store for us. As we try to contain our excitement, there are tons of ways to prepare for the big premiere: re-watching Season 1 on Netflix, looking at new photos of Toni Topaz next to Jughead, and reading Season 2 spoilers are just a few that immediately come to mind.

As exciting as all of those ideas are, looking at the recently released photos of Riverdale's newest misfit character, Toni, definitely takes the cake. Indeed, the official Archie comics Twitter account tweeted a picture of Jughead sitting alongside Toni — who is played by The Shannara Chronicles' Vanessa Morgan — and one other Southside Serpent with the caption, "The Southside Serpents are coming. Watch out, #Riverdale High."

The brooding looks on the characters' faces in the picture and the accompanying caption certainly hint at how dark Season 2 is going to get, and, if Toni's Southside Serpents jacket is any indication of how she'll fit into the show, I'd say we're in for one hell of a turbulent season.

Toni's addition to the cast made waves when it was first announced back in July; indeed, fans were not happy when showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa hinted that the new, bisexual character might cause trouble in paradise for Betty and Jughead. Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Tonight,

Bughead is pretty strong, and pretty undeniable, and pretty epic, but you know even the most epic of romances has trouble – and trouble often comes as a third party; so yes, it is conceivable that Toni will potentially test the limits of Bughead.

The showrunner also revealed that Toni is "vivacious, exciting, and a bit of a disrupter" with "as large an appetite for hamburgers as Jughead Jones"; with a reputation that strong before the season even premieres, we're bound to see her shake stuff up right off the bat in Season 2.

Earlier in September Vanessa herself confirmed her character is set to bring some new drama to Riverdale this year (as if there were a shortage...). Morgan told Bustle ahead of the Season 2 premiere,

I stir it up a bit for Bughead, I'm part of Southside. I'm one of Jughead's first friends... I bring a bit of trouble. I'm the girl in the gang; my character is badass, and Jughead is the son of the King Serpent... why wouldn't I [welcome] him?

Since then, fans of the show, and of Bughead, have had a lot to say about Toni's addition to the cast and how she might upset the main crew's dynamic; Vanessa Morgan has even received death threats over her role and the season hasn't even begun yet (not that it would be OK if the season had already begun). The actress tells Glamour,

I've already had some death threats. But the thing is, it's half death threats because they don't want that [actually] happening, and there's half that's just all love. Who knows if [my character coming between Bughead] is even going to happen. People are just jumping to conclusions.

Since it is Riverdale we're dealing with, something tells me there will be a lot more to the story than we know. I guess all there is to do right now is prepare for some serious drama and, who knows, maybe we'll end up loving Toni.

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