Goodbye, Greendale. Hello, Rivervale.
For the Dec. 7 episode of Riverdale, rebranded Rivervale for a five-episode special event, Kiernan Shipka is reviving her Sabrina Spellman character to help Madelaine Petsch's Cheryl Blossom with a difficult spell. Eager to learn more about this Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Riverdale crossover, E! News exclusively spoke with Shipka in the hope of having all of our burning questions answered.
For starters, how the heck is Sabrina even alive? Because the last time we saw the blonde witch—which was in the CAOS series finale on Netflix—Sabrina was dead and enjoying her afterlife existence with boyfriend Nick (Gavin Leatherwood). And it seems that even Shipka is in the dark about Sabrina's unexpected return.
"We know that she came back," she shared. "But we don't know exactly how it went down. And I feel like people deserve to know."
The ears of Riverdale and CAOS creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa must've been burning, as he's since released a telling deleted scene from the Netflix drama that teases how exactly Sabrina came back from the dead. In the recently released footage, Sabrina's Aunt Zelda (Miranda Otto) summons Baron Samedi to save her niece.
"There's been a frightful misunderstanding," she tells the voodoo god. "My niece Sabrina, it seems, is dead, and I want her back. Whatever the price—but I will not suffer a teenage witch to die."
Clearly, Sabrina's Aunt Zelda intervened to revive the teenage witch. So does this mean Sabrina's other half, Sabrina Morningstar, is still dead? The answer? Unclear.
"I feel like Morningstar sort of saw her day," Shipka weighed in. "The thing that I love most about the Archie-verse, is that anything kind of goes. Anything could be justified and brought back to life in ways that are reasonable because the world is so fantastical and magical. So, at the end of the day, it is possible. I wouldn't rule anything out."
Shipka had this mantra when asked about joining Riverdale in a larger capacity, as she noted, "We haven't shot anything yet, but I am eager for more. Let's just say that [the Dec. 7 episode] felt like an appetizer. That felt like a little taste and I would love to truly go back and do more."
As she continued, Shipka said she was "dying" to see Sabrina interact with the other residents of Riverdale, especially Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse).
While Shipka is hopeful for a return to Riverdale, she's most grateful for the time she got to spend with Petsch.
"Getting to chill with [Petsch] was the most wonderful, amazing thing," she said. "Because we hadn't really spent that much time together. Out of everyone in that cast, she was the person that I knew the least, and I left feeling like I found a new friend."
We love to hear it!
See Sabrina arrive in Rivervale during the Dec. 7 episode at 9 p.m. on the CW.