It is hard to imagine that one of the most successful television franchises of the 2010s was an adaptation of Archie comics. While a constant in the community of comics, the world of Archie has often been squeaky clean stories for young kids and has often been a pop culture punching bag for its wholesome view of the world. However, its years of comics to draw from and an iconic set of teenage characters made the stories ideal for a high school set series, and after being passed over by Fox, the series moved over to CW.
Riverdale was a reimagining of the Archie comics, using the pop culture iconography everyone associates with the material and telling darker, more mature based storylines. Season 1 was a highly anticipated event and after the first season hit Netflix, it became a juggernaut for the CW, and the network saw a new brand that could be equal to their successful superhero Arrowverse. As the series progressed, it grew from a simple murder mystery show to one involving the supernatural and opened the door for more potential series.
Much like Archie comics, Riverdale began to spin off into other series exploring other young teenage characters focused on the characters Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Katy Keene. In many ways, the Riverdale universe had something for everyone. The lurid teenage mystery of Riverdale, the supernatural gothic horror of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and the more grounded young adult but still comedic focus of Katy Keene all showed there was something for everyone in this universe. A series based on a popular line of comics fittingly has now launched a successful television franchise.
Riverdale is set to conclude next year with its seventh and final season. For anyone looking to explore the various corners of the Riverdale universe and find out how it all fits together, here is a handy explanation of the various series and how they all connect.
Riverdale
Riverdale premiered on the CW in 2016 and follows the residents of the titular town and primarily focuses on various murders, mysteries, occults, and threats in the town explored by Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Cheryl Blossom. The series' first four seasons follow the characters in high school, and early in season 5, the series does a time jump seven years to follow the lead characters as young adults.
Riverdale is the central show from which the rest of the universe spins out. Greendale is mentioned in season 2 of Riverdale before it becomes the primary location of the series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and the character of Katy Keene is first introduced in Riverdale as an old friend of Veronica's. Characters from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Katy Keene appear on Riverdale over the course of its seven seasons, and characters from Riverdale make cameo appearances on the other show.
With Riverdale set to conclude in its upcoming seventh season, it appears that the series will have kick-started this shared universe will also be the one that gets the closing chapter on it. It is possible the final season will feature multiple guest stars from the various other spin-off series to allow for some sense of closure.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Originally developed for the CW, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina moved to Netflix after how successful Riverdale season 1 was when it hit the streaming service in the summer of 2016. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina aired from 2018 to 2022 for four seasons. It focuses on the character of Sabrina Spellman who actually had her own television series from 1996 to 2003 titled Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which is not connected to the Riverdale franchise (yet does get a fun shoutout in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). Chilling Adventures of Sabrina introduces many supernatural and occult elements to the universe, many of which would eventually find their way over to Riverdale.
Riverdale characters Ben Button and Billy Marlin cameo on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. In one episode Sabrina visits Riverdale to search for a crown that was owned by Benjamin Blossom, an ancestor of Cheryl Blossom who becomes a major part of the Blossom family lineage in later Riverdale seasons. Following the conclusion of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Kiera Shipka reprised her role as Sabrina Spellman in Riverdale season 6 for two appearances, one set in an alternate timeline and another in the main universe timeline that wraps up plot points from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Sabrina is expected to return for the final season.
Katy Keene
Warner Bros.
A short-lived Riverdale spin-off, Katy Keene focused on the character of the same name from the Archie comics, and the series focused on her dreams of becoming a fashion designer. The series also brought in Josie from the Josie and the Pussycats lineup as a supporting player after having been introduced on Riverdale. The majority of the supporting characters of Katy Keene were members of the Josie and the Pussycats comics.
Unlike Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Katy Keene offers a more classic young adult romantic optimistic view of the world. It deals with the struggles of young adults. Katy Keene features cameo appearances by Riverdale characters, as the sixth episode features Josie's mom Sierra, episode ten features Josie's stepbrother Kevin Keller, and the final episode features Veronica's father Hiram Lodge. The series premiered in February 2020 and was shortly canceled after only one season, airing 13 episodes and concluding on May 14, 2020. However, despite the cancelation, some characters in Katy Keene cameo in later seasons of Riverdale.
Katy Keene also raises an interesting place in the timeline. It was originally conceived to take place after the events of Riverdale, but in season 5 Riverdale did a seven-year time jump to the characters as young adults. It appears now Katy Keene takes place between the events of the time jump or around the same time.
Pretty Little Liars & Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
The most surprising addition to the Riverdale universe is one not connected to the Archie comics at all. In the final episode of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin season 1, the characters make an off-hand reference to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy over in Riverdale, which in the series Riverdale is a home for troubled youth that is run by corrupt nuns. That reference and the fact that Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin's showrunner is Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the creator of the three Riverdale universe series, means that Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and its predecessor Pretty Little Liars take place in the same universe.
Yet it would not just be those two series. Pretty Little Liars was a successful series and had two other spin-off series, Ravenswood (which ran for one season from 2013 to 2014), and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionist (which also ran for one season in 2019). That means that one reference connects Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Katy Keene, Pretty Little Liars, Ravenswood, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionist, and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin in one shared universe consisting of seven series.
To make things more interesting, the original Pretty Little Liars features Lucy Hall as Aria Montgomery. Lucy Hall also plays the lead character on Katy Keene, meaning this fictional shared universe has two women that look exactly like one another. There is possibly a fun cameo meta-joke to be made in either Riverdale or Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, and now provides a new avenue for the Riverdale universe characters to live on in future adventures.