Netflix’s Archie Comic universe will expand in the best way possible when the highly-anticipated Sabrina The Teenage Witch reboot hits screens.
And with big-name stars scooping up the iconic roles, we’ve rounded up everything we know so far about the cast, premiere date and any potential Riverdale crossovers.
First look at ‘The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina’
It’s time to bid farewell to Sabrina The Teenage Witch, and say hello to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Netflix have confirmed the title of their upcoming reboot of the Sabrina story, and shared the first official photo of their leading lady.
The streaming service shared an Instagram photo of Kiernan Shipka wearing her Sabrina Spellman costume, sitting in a black director’s chair with an eerie red logo that reads “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”.
“Welcome to the coven,” they captioned the ominous image.
Of course, we scored the first unofficial look at Kiernan as Sabrina and Ross Lynch as Harvey Kinkle back in April when some on-set photographs were leaked, and as creator Roberto Aguirre Sacasa tweets, they look so ADORBS.
The tweet also seemed to confirm the show would be titled The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina.
What is it about?
The series is based on an eight-issue run of Archie Horror comics called ‘The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’, and it’s set to be a far cry from the original live action series Sabrina The Teenage Witch.
It reimagines the sitcom-esque ’90s show (led by Melissa Joan Hart) as a dark coming-of-age story and is naturally peppered with its fair share of baddies, the occult and witchcraft.
We’ll follow Sabrina as she attempts to “reconcile her dual nature – half-mortal, half-witch – while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit.”
The original cast of ’90s hit Sabrina The Teenage Witch.
The show kept its comic book title ‘The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ and was destined to live alongside its sister-series, Riverdale (which airs on Netflix in Australia), on US network The CW. It was later snapped up by Netflix for two 10-episode seasons.
The series is set to be penned by Riverdale showrunner and the original comic book creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. He recently revealed the pilot episode was tentatively titled “October Country”.
Who has been cast?
The Sabrina cast is stacked with big name stars. From Miranda Otto to Michelle Gomez, here’s who’s playing who in the Sabrina reboot.
Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka)
Much like the original series, Sabrina is your regular teen trying to navigate her human life as a sophomore student, but with a secret. While embarking on her studies as witch, she becomes the only thing that stands between the human world and the evil forces trying that threaten it.
Kiernan Shipka stars in the titular role will most likely be recognised as Sally Draper in Mad Men, though she has also lent her voice to animated series The Legend of Korra.
Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch)
Disney star Ross Lynch, most notable for his time on Austin & Ally, has also recently starred as a young Jeffrey Dahmer in My Friend Dahmer.
Announcing his casting as Harvey, Netflix described the character as, “the prince charming of this dark fairy tale. Harvey is the son of a coal miner, a dreamboat and a dreamer, completely unaware of the dark forces conspiring to keep him and Sabrina apart.”
Aunt Zelda (Miranda Otto)
Described as “proud and devout”, Aunt Hilda, played by Miranda Otto “is the family’s disciplinarian, fiercely protective of Sabrina and very much Cain to Hilda’s Abel.”
The Aussie actress already has a huge list of credits to her name, having starred in everything from The Lord Of The Rings to Homeland.
Kiernan Shipka, Ross Lynch and Miranda Otto will play main characters Sabrina, Harvey and Aunt Zelda respectively.
Aunt Hilda (Lucy Davis)
According to Deadline, Lucy’s Aunt Hilda is warmer and more nurturing than tough Aunt Zelda: “Hilda’s motherly nature and warm sense of humor belie a wicked, ghoulish streak. She is as adept at brewing spite jars against her family’s enemies as she is at concocting love potions for the students at Baxter High.”
The English star has previously appeared in the UK Office and Wonder Woman (2017).
Mary Wardell (Michelle Gomez)
Sabrina’s favourite teacher at Baxter High, Mary Wardell, played by Doctor Who’s Michelle Gomez, becomes a vessel for Madam Satan who tries to lead Sabrina down the Path of Night.
Ambrose (Chance Perdomo)
Wild, witty and stuck under house-arrest, Sabrina’s cousin and partner-in-crime Ambrose is played by newcomer Chance Perdomo.
Lucy Davis, Michelle Gomez and Chance Perdomo have also joined the cast.
Rosalind (Jaz Sinclair)
Rosalind is Sabrina’s best friend and the fiery, outspoken daughter of Greendale’s minister. Actress Jaz Sinclair has previously appeared in The Vampire Diaries and movie adaptation of John Green’s YA novel, Paper Towns.
George (Bronson Pinchot)
Played by Perfect Strangers’ Bronson Pinchot is George Hawthorn, the Baxter High principal. Described as villainous and puritanical, “he is a constant thorn in Sabrina’s side and is always trying to thwart her escapades.”
Blackwood (Richard Coyle)
Another baddie for Sabrina to face comes in the form of Father Blackwood, the high priest of the Church of Night and dean of the Academy of the Unseen Arts. English actor Richard Coyle may look familiar from his time on Coupling and Covert Affairs.
Prudence (Tati Gabrielle)
Rounding out the list is The 100’s Tati Gabrielle, the leader of a group of sorceresses known as the Weird Sisters. She holds personal grudge, potentially life-threatening grudge against Sabrina. She’ll be joined by Adeline Rudolph and Abigail Cowen, the other members of witchy gang.
Salem the cat
Yep, Salem will be back in the Sabrina reboot, and he’ll look more real than ever. There’s no word yet on who will voice the feline but even he is said to have darker plans for world domination.
When is the premiere date?
There is no premiere date as-yet, but with filming set to wrap up in October, The Express predicts Sabrina will air in 2019.
Will Sabrina and Riverdale crossover?
The trend of TV show crossovers will surely extend to Sabrina and Riverdale, right? Don’t hold your breath.
Riverdale star Lili Reinhart says “it doesn’t make sense”.
“That’s why the decision was ultimately made to move to Netflix — to make these Riverdale and Sabrina shows completely separate universes,” she told Vulture.
“I know that [magic] doesn’t exist in Riverdale. At least right now. So it wouldn’t make sense for those two worlds to collide.”
However, at a recent press Q&A, all producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa responded to the rumours with a cryptic, “TBD.”
“[But] it’s been talked about,” he later revealed. “Greg [Berlanti] always says, ‘say never say never’ because who knows what’s gonna happen. In success, anything’s possible. It would be fun. Who knows?”
