Sabrina the Teenage Witch ran for seven seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s, and like many works from that era, it’s getting a reboot. The show will air on Netflix and is being produced by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who also produces the CW’s Riverdale.
Sabrina is coming to Netflix and she might just outbrood Jughead. Don’t @ me about talking cats (yet)
— Netflix US (@netflix) December 1, 2017
Two new trailers
Netflix’s reboot of Sabrina the Teenage Witch is slated to launch later this month and the company has recently released a full-length trailer giving us a better look at the show. While the teaser did a pretty good job of giving an idea of the show’s vibe, the trailer gives us a good look at some of the show’s cast of characters. It also provides a look into how the show will use the darker side of Sabrina’s life as a witch to contrast the slight camp of her high school life. That being said, if you want to go into this series completely blind, then we’d advise avoiding this trailer as it appears that it might give away some plot elements.
In addition to the full-length trailer, Netflix has also released a short teaser. The minute-long teaser doesn’t give us much information regarding the plot and has no spoken dialogue. However, it does give us a nice look at the cinematography and does a good job of conveying the mood of the show.
Theme and premiere date
Unlike the show’s previous sitcom incarnation, this version takes its plot, themes, and title from the recent horror comic book series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and looks a bit like a cross between Riverdale and American Horror Story.
At the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, Netflix announced that Sabrina the Teenage Witch would be premiering on October 26. The show’s first season will consist of 10 episodes. The announcement was made onstage via a crew of Sabrina dopplergangers. We have to say, it’s a more interesting way of handling things than a simple press release.
Time for CAOS. Oct 26. pic.twitter.com/uLgXFMLX0t
— Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (@sabrinanetflix) July 29, 2018
Sabrina herself will be played by Kiernan Shipka. Deadline reports that Michelle Gomez will be taking on the role of Sabrina’s mentor Mary Wardell. The role of Sabrina’s English cousin, Ambrose Spellman, has been landed by Chance Perdomo. More importantly, we recently got our first look at Salem.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet #Greendale’s latest resident. All hail, Salem! #sabrina, #netflix pic.twitter.com/XZ1dNPgvja
— RobertoAguirreSacasa (@WriterRAS) February 9, 2018
Crossovers with Riverdale?
Like Riverdale, the new version of Sabrina will likely be darker than what some fans are used to, considering that it is based on the comic series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The ongoing series delves heavily into themes of the occult and the darker aspects of Sabrina’s life as a witch.
Originally meant to be a companion show to Riverdale on the CW, Sabrina was moved to Netflix. The streaming company is a good fit for the series, considering that it has streaming rights to Riverdale, and the show’s first season did very well there. It also did well for the CW — it’s been reported that the audience for the show’s second season premiere grew 60 percent from the previous season’s midseason debut.
“Probably more people watched it on Netflix thinking it was a Netflix show,” the CW’s Rick Haskins told the Hollywood Reporter. “Our real challenge was taking those viewers and moving them over to The CW.”
Right now, it is unclear as to whether or not this show will tie into Riverdale or not. Crossovers might be difficult since it is a Netflix show, but the first season of Supergirl aired on CBS before joining the CW, so it wouldn’t be completely unheard of.
Assuming the show does well, we might see the emergence of an “Archie-verse,” as Aguirre-Sacasa has said that he would like to delve deeper into the Archie library.
“One of the nice things about me being a part of Archie Comics is having access to a library of 4,000 to 5,000 characters,” Aguirre-Sacassa said prior to Riverdale’s debut. “Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats … those are characters who can very easily support their own show. But we [also] have superheroes. So in success, yes, the goal is to expand that way.”
Updated on October 7, 2018: Added the official trailer
