Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Talks ‘Riverdale’ Romance and Supernatural Twists | PaleyFest

Riverdale’s move into the supernatural means fun changes for the hit CW series.

We caught up with creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa on the red carpet at PaleyFest recently, hoping for answers to all the hot button questions surrounding Riverdale Season 6. He spoke about why the writers decided to make that supernatural shift and what we can expect from the romantic pairings on the series. (You can watch the full video below.)

In questioning why Riverdale finally decided to take the leap into supernatural territory after six years of dancing around it, Aguirre-Sacasa admitted the idea originally blossomed from the show’s five-episode special event, RiverVale. 

“It all started with our five-episode event, RiverVale. We were looking for something to make that special,” he said. “We’d done crime, noir, musicals, coming of age — and we had teased the supernatural but we’d never done it. So we said, let’s make it different. Let’s make it special and promotable.”

When the episodes aired in early 2022 and garnered an overwhelmingly positive response, Aguirre-Sacasa realized the show may be on to something. 

“Everyone really responded. We thought, ‘Oh, this is great, maybe this doesn’t have to be just for these five episodes — maybe some elements can kind of seep into the rest of Season 6. I think that opened the door.'”

“The deeper we get into the season, the more elements will keep popping up,” Aguirre-Sacasa added.

The creator went on to expand on the vague tease during Riverdale’s PaleyFest panel, promising that Archie, Betty, and Jughead “won’t be the only characters who develop powers this season.”

Despite the supernatural elements taking this Riverdale season to the extreme, the show has still been able to maintain a grounded balance thanks to character relationships, and more specifically, newfound romances. 

When asked about some of those new dynamics like Betty/Archie and Jughead/Tabitha, the writer eagerly promised that “there is much more to come.” Veronica and Reggie, however, solicited a more wary response. Aguirre-Sacasa warned “a lot of drama” would be coming their way.

As for fans of the relationships from Riverdale’s yesteryear — like fan-favorites Cheryl and Toni — Sacasa said not to “give up hope,” while also promising more to come for mystery-solving duo Betty and Jughead.

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Riverdale airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW. 

*Additional reporting by Ashley Bissette Sumerel 

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