Riverdale cast compares “ridiculous” series to the MCU

Riverdale has long since been ridiculed for it’s out-there plotlines, but now the cast is pushing back, and using the MCU to do so.

Love it or hate it, Riverdale, the drama-mystery series that brought Archie Comics characters to life in variously wacky ways, has certainly made a name for itself in pop culture.

Now, the popular CW series is finally coming to an end, with its seventh season being its last – and it’s certain to go out with a bang. We’re enjoying the season so far, and you can read our review of the first three episodes here.

In the series, we’ve had haunted dolls, super powers, time travel, and parental murder. Because of this, Riverdale has been somewhat mocked for it’s out there plot-lines. However, the cast has recently pushed back against that ethos, comparing the plots to the considerably more favored MCU.

Riverdale is not far off from the MCU

The seventh season of Riverdale is set in the 1950s, due to a magical time comet that Cheryl Blossom destroyed with her superpowers last season. If that sounds like a lot, you’d be correct, but to be honest, that’s not far off from anything that the MCU has done over its decade long film franchise.

Turns out that the cast of Riverdale thinks so too. Now that the series is ending, Betty actor Lili Reinhart opened up to Vulture, stating “I think it’s important to acknowledge that our show is made fun of a lot. People see clips taken out of context. By 2019, Riverdale Cringe videos had become a genre online, be they TikTok reactions to particularly funny lines of dialogue or YouTube compilations of strange moments from the show, and are like, ‘What? I thought this was about teenagers.’ And we thought so as well – in season one.

“But it’s really not been easy to feel that you’re the butt of a joke. We all want to be actors; we’re passionate about what we do. So, when the absurdity of our show became a talking point, it was difficult. It is ‘What the f-ck?’ That’s the whole point. When we’re doing our table reads and something ridiculous happens, Roberto is laughing because he understands the absurdity and the campiness.”

Camila Mendes, who plays Veronica, then brought up the MCU, particularly Guardians of the Galaxy. She also brought up the fact that like Marvel movies, Riverdale is based on a comic book series: “Superhero movies are the main thing at the box office these days, and those are the most absurd stories you could imagine!” Mendes said. “You’ve got a fucking talking raccoon fighting aliens in space! No one’s like, ‘This makes no sense.’

Madeline Petsch, who plays Cheryl, even compares herself to a MCU hero in the show, “When I flew through the sky shooting lasers out of my hands at a comet. In the season-six finale, Cheryl absorbs her friends’ newly acquired superpowers to stop a comet from hitting Riverdale. But we often pay homage, and this is an homage to Scarlet Witch.”

Mendes continues, “We’re a comic book; it’s supposed to be fun and fictional and weird. If you want to watch a teen show where there’s just a bunch of kids in a high school dealing with relationship drama, there’s a lot out there.”

This feels particularly significant for the seventh season, as it harkens back to the 1950s, which in the real world was the heyday of Archie comics.

As Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa explained to ComicBook.com, “Though the Archie started publishing much earlier than the 1950s, the decade that most people associate with Archie comics is the 1950s for whatever reason.

“The Archie comics, they’re so nostalgic, and I think when people think of time periods, they think of the 1950. Through the lens of nostalgia. So that was one big thing, absolutely.”

Riverdale is currently premiering weekly on the CW. To find out when you can watch it, click here.