‘Riverdale’ Finally Showed The Core 4 Post-Time Jump & It May Confirm A Theory
It looks like the Riverdale Season 5 time jump won't make the show look so different after all. Fans have known for a while that after spending a few episodes concluding the Season 4 storylines cut short when the coronavirus pandemic halted filming, the upcoming season will then jump seven years into the future, skipping over the characters' college years. Now, the first look video at Riverdale Season 5's time jump is finally here, and it seems to confirm a theory about what the Core Four are up to as adults.
In the days leading up to Christmas 2020, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa took to Instagram to share a few sneak peeks at the CW drama's upcoming season, and they seem to show that Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica are now back at Riverdale High School as teachers.
The first video shows Veronica strutting down the school's halls with a cup of coffee in hand as students stare, while the other features Archie, Betty, and Jughead heading to different classrooms with a "Welcome Back to School" banner in the background. They each have a single piece of paper in hand, seemingly indicating that they're new to this whole teaching thing.
Archie is dressed in a "Riverdale RROTC" sweatshirt, suggesting that he's helping prepare kids for the same military training corps his mom recommended he participate in earlier in the show. It's unclear what exactly the others are doing there, but they certainly seem to be working at Riverdale High in some capacity.
Fans previously speculated that the Core Four would join the school's faculty as a means of coming back together again, since Season 4 implied that the characters were going to different colleges. There was significant evidence to back the theory up, such as Camila Mendes posting a video of KJ Apa dressed in what seems to be a football coach uniform back in November. A leaked audition tape also suggested that Betty will return to Riverdale High to teach an engineering or shop class.
Plus, as a struggling writer who's all too familiar with the dangers of toxic learning environments thanks to Stonewall Prep, it makes sense that Jughead would come back to teach English. Since Ronnie is a city socialite at heart, her exact reasoning for joining Riverdale High's faculty is a little more questionable.
It won't just be the Core Four, though — another fan favorite will definitely join the faculty as well. Kevin's cameo appearance on Katy Keene confirmed that he'll serve as the school's drama teacher. At least if the Riverdale gang do have to deal with zombies and killer trucks in Season 5, they'll still have time for a musical episode.
Riverdale Season 5 premieres on The CW on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
