RIVERDALE at Comic-Con: Live-Blog

RIVERDALE is making its Hall H debut at Comic-Con. Follow along as stars KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, Marisol Nichols, Madelaine Petsch, Ashleigh Murray, Mark Consuelos, Casey Cott, Skeet Ulrich, Mädchen Amick, Luke Perry, and Vanessa Morgan, plus producers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Sarah Schechter and Jon Goldwater tease what’s ahead in season 3.

11:54: We’re starting with a sizzle reel. There’s new footage that includes something that looks alarmingly cult-y with Alice and Polly.

11:57: Introduction time…it’s a big panel.

12:00: Any schoolwork for the kids? “One of the things we talked about in the writers’ room was how important junior year,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. There will be more high school stuff this year…SATs, advisors.

12:01: “When we meet them in the premiere, they’re trying to maintain peace,” Aguirre-Sacasa said of trying to get peace between the Serpents, Hiram, and what’s dubbed the legion of doom.

12:03: “You always need your friends to get the good stuff done…I’ve enlisted FP and Tom Keller” for help, Perry said.

12:04: “I think Hermione is really happy to have a little power of her own,” Nichols said of being the new mayor. “I think she’s going to use that power to change the way her marriage has been the last season. I’m really looking forward to that.”

12:05: “I think right now he’s going to focus on being a thorn in his daughter’s side,” Consuelos said. “I think he’s going to watch his back for Hermione, because he knows she’s gunning for him.”

12:06: “I ship Choni harder than I ship anything else,” Morgan said. Apparently there’s going to be a little Josie and Toni tension this season…but the actresses didn’t know that.

“Cheryl’s on a power high: she has her girlfriend for the first time ever and she’s emancipated from her mother,” Petsch said of season 3. “She’s going to be making power grabs.”

12:08: Apa teased there could be trouble for Veronica and Archie if he gets sent away. Mendes agreed: “I think they’re going to run into some problems.

“I think Veronica is going to be an entrepreneur in season 3,” Mendes said. “She’ll be running a speak easy at Pop’s…she needs to make her own money. She’s working at Pop’s and hustling.”

12:11: “Betty spent her summer doing an internship,” Reinhart teased. “You see her doing everything in her power to not think about her dad. Alice and Polly attack her and their new spirituality with the farm tell her she needs to listen to her soul. Betty wants to stay far, far away from them.”

12:12: Sprouse previewed Jughead is going to be eating a lot more this season. Bughead will be solid, as an investigative duo. Jughead’s mother and sister will arrive in episode 8.

12:14: “I think that did cement us as a thing,” Cott said of Moose and Kevin’s relationship. And it seems Kevin’s dad and Josie’s mom will be moving in together. (And it seems like Kevin and Josie will sing together this season.)

12:15: “Girl, it’s fun,” Amick joked about the farm Alice is at.

12:17: FP is taking on “a new role helping make the Serpents strong again,” Ulrich said.

12:18: There will be an “unlikely romance for Reggie in episode 3,” Aguirre-Sacasa previewed. The only hint? He starts working at Veronica’s speakeasy.

12:19: Strangest fan interaction? Mendes said a fan sent her $100. Sprouse had a girl throw a frog at him.

12:21: Advice for students? Perry said register to vote. Others say to stay in school.

12:22: “She created this facade,” Petsch said of her character’s season 1 persona. “She’s living her truth now.”

12:23: Apa wants Spider-Man to play Archie. Ulrich said Jason Mamoa. Perry said Jonah Hex. Sprouse said The Rock as The Hulk.

12:24: Favorite part of the experience. Reinhart said meeting her cast mates. Sprouse said Comic-Con is very validating.

12:26: Who are the show’s famous fans? Kate Moss, Andrew Garfield are a few who they’ve encountered.

12:27:  How is the cast handling their newfound fame? “At the end of the day, most of us are pretty normal on social media,” Mendes said. “You just have to be authentically yourself.”

12:28: Executive producer Sarah Schechter said her TWIN PEAKS fandom led to Amick being brought in for Alice.

12:29: Strangest theory? Early in season 1, people thought Betty might be hallucinating Polly.

12:31: What happens to Bughead if FP and Alice get together? “Tune in to episode 3,” Aguirre-Sacasa previewed.

12:32: Betty is still the Serpent Queen, Reinhart confirmed. Amick said that Alice would probably be OK with Betty getting a Serpent tattoo.

12:35: “We’re each other’s best friends,” Reinhart said. She roomed with Petsch in season 1, and lived with Mendes in LA during the hiatus.

12:37: Who is the biggest on-set flirt? The consensus is Perry. Who is the funniest? Mix of Apa, Cott, and Sprouse. Who thinks he’s the funniest? Sprouse. Who works out the most? Apa.

12:39: Requests Aguirre-Sacasa gets: Reinhart asks for her hair to be down; Apa asks to do his scenes shirtless.

12:40: What fictional villain would the cast want to fight. “My name is Luke, so I’d have to say Darth Vader,” Perry joked.

12:42: Aguirre-Sacasa  promised there will be more of a focus on the friendships, especially Betty/Veronica and Archie/Jughead.

12:44: “Polly’s the messed up one,” Reinhart said. She doesn’t know why Betty thought she as messed up.

12:45: What do they want to see next season? “Let’s see Cheryl happy,” Petsch said. “Let’s see FP and Alice together,” Amick said.

12:46: Aguirre-Sacasa said they’re planning on doing a flashback episode of the parents from when they were younger. “Season 1 we wanted to have the kids playing their parents,” he said. There will also be another musical episode.

12:47: They gave away a trip to the RIVERDALE set; the winner wasn’t here. But they’re also going to give away a second prize to someone in the audience.

12:49: When a fan asked about queer-baiting and responsible storytelling, Aguirre-Sacasa acknowledged the show has a responsibility to tell those stories with respect.

12:50: A winner was chosen from the audience, and the fan gets to meet the cast backstage. That’s a wrap on the panel!

RIVERDALE, Wednesdays, 8/7c, The CW

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• Comic-Con 2018: Warner Bros. Reveals RIVERDALE Keycards
• RIVERDALE: Watch Two Numbers From the Musical Episode!
• PaleyFest: Team RIVERDALE Teases the End of Season 2

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