Riverdale, a show based on the 1940s comic series Archie, named after the main character, stars KJ Apa (Archie Andrews), Lili Reinhart (Betty Cooper), Camila Mendes (Veronica Lodge), and Cole Sprouse (Jughead Jones). The show was released on January 26th, 2017 on the CW and was recently uploaded to Netflix.
Riverdale follows the lives of teenagers from Riverdale High School following the mysterious death of a fellow classmate. The plot itself is far from that of the original, good-hearted comic series. The new TV show could remind one that of Pretty Little Liars or a weird version of Twin Peaks.
There are many notable differences with the show and the original comics. A most notable difference is obviously the time period, which is now placed in modern day. The character’s are set in an average high school, just as before, along with similar struggles every teenager faces; school, relationships, and just the usual murder of a fellow student. Since technology and social media now play a key role in these student’s lives, it changes up a large portion of what Archie Comics lovers may be used to.
Aside from the poorly dyed red hair, Archie himself has many other differences compared to his comic book counterpart. His personality is greatly different; he’s more outgoing and is essentially a heartthrob in Riverdale. He’s not the only character who had a drastic personality change, either. Both Jughead and Veronica Lodge became the opposites of their original characters. Veronica is, for starters, now nice. Archie Comics version of Veronica is mostly what Riverdale Veronica would consider a classic mean girl. Her and Betty are even friends in the show, which in the comics was hard to consider them as because of their ongoing rivalry.
With Jughead, he’s seen as a loner throughout the entirety of the show. As compared to the comics, however, he was mostly used for comic relief. He was Archie’s funny, burger-loving best friend, but in the show he hangs out at Pop’s diner at all hours writing and is ultimately extremely serious.
One might say that the only true thing that hasn’t changed between the creation of Riverdale and Archie comics is the character’s names and Pop’s. However, the series has been renewed for a second season.
