Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa) is no longer the sweet boy next door. At least, that's what the new promo for season 2 of Riverdale has confirmed.
Remember when Archie's biggest worry was performing at a school talent show? That doesn't even rank in the top 10 for the newly darkened Archie, who, in the season 1 finale, watched as his father Fred (Luke Perry) bled out on the floor of Pop's Diner. Who shot Fred? Was it truly a random encounter? Those secrets will all come to the surface, but before they do, it's clear Archie will become an entirely different person.
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Like, say, the kind of person who carries a gun around town. Though whether it's for protection or revenge has yet to be seen.
"You can't let this fear run your life, Archie," a voice that sounds a lot like Fred says in the promo over a clip of Archie cocking a gun just outside the diner.
This isn't the first time we were teased a much different Archie. According to showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's interview with Entertainment Tonight, the season 1 finale will serve as Dark Archie's origin story, which is almost superhero-like in nature.
"The way we’re thinking of what happens in Pop’s in the last moments of the finale is really the equivalent of Bruce Wayne seeing his parents gunned down in Crime Alley, or Peter Parker learning that his beloved Uncle Ben was shot by a robber," Aguirre-Sacasa teased to the outlet. "That really set those two characters on their hero’s journey. For Archie, he is the hero of our show, but before he gets to that heroic journey, it’s going to be a journey more of revenge, and a journey of darkness and violence begetting violence."
Fortunately, the new promo doesn't just include Archie's newfound interest in revenge. There's also a steamy scene of Veronica (Camila Mendes) popping in on someone in the shower, Betty (Lili Reinhart) confronting her mom while seemingly wearing a Pop's Diner waitress uniform, and F.P. (Skeet Ulrich) being interviewed in a police station.
Where will this all lead?! One thing's for sure: We better not hear another word about Archie's musical aspirations in season 2. There are bigger fish to fry now, kids.