Riverdale Season 8 - Will It Ever Happen?

"Riverdale" will seemingly end after Season 7, which is devastating news for fans of The CW's popular teen drama. Last year, the network's former Chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz stated that Season 8 won't be happening anytime soon, effectively confirming that the show has been canceled.

"We had a long conversation with [showrunner] Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] yesterday, who is thrilled by this news, and we will treat the show in the manner it deserves... We want to make sure it goes out the right way," Pedowitz said during an executive call (via TV Line). "I am a big believer in attempting to give series that have had long runs an appropriate sendoff. I think they, too, felt that seven years is the right amount. As a fan myself, I do want to do what is right for the show."

Of course, it isn't uncommon for hit shows to be renewed and revived at a later date. While "Riverdale" Season 8 appears to be off the cards for the time being, that doesn't mean it won't happen down the line. For now, though, everyone involved seems to have accepted that Season 7 will be the final installment.

Prior to "Riverdale" Season 7, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa revealed that he was open to the prospect of the YA drama continuing beyond its planned finale date. While speaking to Decider, he said that "Riverdale" can still do more with its characters while exploring different genres. Since then, however, he's come to the realization that the Season 7 finale is the ideal swansong for the series.

In an interview with Digital Spy, the showrunner admitted that he was sad to see "Riverdale" come to an end. However, he's grateful that the series had a long run and got to conclude on its terms. "Honestly, I feel like... you know, we'll have had seven seasons," he said. "Truly, I think it was bittersweet. I think we were all anticipating it, we thought that seven would be it."

These bittersweet feelings were echoed by Lili Reinhart, who plays the booksmart detective Betty Cooper. The "Riverdale" star told Vulture that she's grateful she and the other cast members had a job on a show that surpassed 100 episodes, stating that they might never be part of something this successful ever again.

The general consensus among the cast members is that they're fortunate to have been part of "Riverdale," but they're looking forward to the next chapters of their respective careers. This is certainly the case for Camila Mendes, who told InStyle that she doesn't want to be synonymous with playing Veronica Lodge. "I want to have other things under my belt," she said. "I don't want it to just be Riverdale."

It's hard to predict anything that will happen on "Riverdale." The earlier seasons were all about serial killers, biker gangs, and the epic highs and lows of high school football, which were modest for "Riverdale" standards but wild compared to other shows. However, Seasons 6 and 7 introduced evil sorcerers, supernatural railroads, and time travel, proving that "Riverdale" is all about jumping the shark and pushing the envelope. If Season 8 happens, it will have to come up with something truly out there to top these storylines.

That said, the aforementioned statements by the cast suggest that no one is in a hurry to return to the Town with Pep. As such, an eighth installment of the hit drama probably won't happen at all, and if it does, it'll be years away. The cast will also be older and that means they'll be less likely to play believable teenagers and young adults. As such, the natural step would be to catch up with the characters during their middle-aged years, which could be interesting.

Riverdale is a town that attracts evil, so there will always be intriguing storylines to explore in this world should the cast and crew decide to revisit it. That said, Season 8 will have to get creative if it's going to top stories about time travel, evil wizards, parallel universes, biker warfare, and killer roleplaying games involving gargoyles.

"Riverdale" wouldn't work without Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom, and the other characters who've contributed to the madness throughout the years. After all, they're all mainstays in the Archieverse as a whole, and Season 8 just wouldn't be the same without any of them. To make that happen, though, the actors who play these characters would have to return to the fold.

With that in mind, in the small chance that "Riverdale" Season 8 comes to fruition, we can assume that KJ Apa, Camila Mendes, Lili Reinhart, Cole Sprouse, Madelaine Petsch, and the other regulars would return. As it stands, however, most of these performers seem content to leave "Riverdale" in the rearview mirror following the Season 7 finale.

It remains to be seen if "Riverdale" Season 8 will ever materialize. However, they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and this IP is bankable enough to potentially resurrect at a later date.

The success of "Riverdale" paved the way for more Archie Comics adaptations on the small screen. In 2018, Netflix released "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," an adaptation of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's horror comic series of the same name. The show tells the story of a teenage witch who must contend with everything from the forces of Hell to ancient Eldritch terrors to general adolescent woes. However, it was canceled in 2020, which is a common theme for spin-offs set in the Archieverse.

In 2020, "Riverdale" spin-off series "Katy Keene" debuted on The CW. This one follows the title character (Lucy Hale) and Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) as they pursue fame in New York City. Unfortunately, the show failed to reach the same heights as "Riverdale" and was sent to the chopping block after one season.

Elsewhere, the CW also had plans to make a "Jake Chang" series, which would have centered around the titular amateur sleuth as he investigated mysteries in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco. Sadly, this one was shelved in 2023, and the network has no immediate plans to resurrect the project. As of this writing, it appears that there aren't any more "Riverdale" spin-offs on the horizon.