Posted in: CW, Preview, Riverdale, streaming, Trailer, TV, YouTube | Tagged: archie, betty, bleeding cool, cable, Cheryl, comic books, Comics, jughead, Kevin, KJ Apa, preview, riverdale, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, streaming, teaser, television, toni, trailer, tv, veronica

Riverdale Season 5 Teaser: Archie Looks Ready to Put Out Your Fire

Riverdale creator and executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is back with another teaser for the fifth season- but this time we're going to leave the word "twisted" behind. Considering what we've gotten up to this point, it's actually been a pretty conservative word to use. First, there was key art of a woman running from a truck late at night, then an image of the front of a demonic-looking truck (along with the warning to avoid "The Lonely Highway"). Following that, we had a look at Vanessa Morgan as "Toni Topaz, the Serpent Queen," and then two more pieces of key art- one that refueled our hopes of an "Afterlife with Archie" adaptation, while the other showed a phone receiver on the ground (from a payphone) with blood and what could be either broken glass or ice. Pretty damn creepy, right?

That's why we're finding this sudden shift into full-on beefcake a bit confusing. No one's complaining, because it wouldn't be Riverdale if KJ Apa's Archie wasn't topless for something. Whether it's boxing (above) or as you're about to see in the following post from Aguirre-Sacasa from the set… a fireman? So are we assuming he's a fireman in Riverdale after the time jump? Maybe he's a stripper? A fireman who didn't pick his uniform up at the cleaners? A victim of a weird accident that only burned his shirt? Engaging in a little "couple's role play"? The possibilities are endless:

In September, Aguirre-Sacasa announced that pre-production on the fifth season was officially underway, offering viewers a look at the script covers for the episodes being run through table reads. Continuing their effective use of panels from the comics to represent the episode, we learned that Episode 501 "Chapter Seventy-Seven: Climax" is written by Ace Hasan and Greg Murray, and directed by Pamela Romanowsky (with an old-school Betty/Jughead prom image). Episode 502 "Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Preppy Murders" is written by Janine Saline Schoenberg and Devon Turner, and directed by Gabriel Correa (with a newer, depressing Archie/Jughead panel).

Now while the third episode is pretty much in line with wrapping up the senior year, "Purgatory" and the image chosen for the cover have us very curious. Are they going to kill Archie (KJ Apa)? Probably not, but they might do an "Archie went missing overseas and was presumed dead" storyline. The image they're using is from the comic book Archie 1941 (writers: Brian Augustyn, Mark Waid; illustrator: Peter Krause), where our red-headed lead joins the military and ends up MIA, presumed dead (see what we mean?).

Erinn Westbrook (The Resident) has also joined the cast for the fifth season as Tabitha Tate, the ambitious, entrepreneurial granddaughter of Pop Tate. Seeing serious business potential in her family's business, Tabitha's come to Riverdale to take over Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe in the hopes of franchising the iconic diner, even as the town around it struggles to survive.

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