Fans were shocked earlier this week to learn that the popular Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina would come to an end after the release of its fourth installment later this year. The cancelation news came less than a week after The CW announced it would not renew its latest Archie Comics television adaptation, Katy Keene, for a second season, less than two months after its inaugural season finale had aired. The development puts Archie's steady expansion to television seemingly to an end, with only Riverdale remaining as the comic book publisher's adaptations currently on the air.
Following an acclaimed reimagining of the Archie Comics flagship characters in horror publications Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in 2013 spearheaded by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Francesco Francavilla and Robert Hack, the venerable publisher relaunched its flagship title in 2015 for modern audiences, with Mark Waid and Fiona Staples at the helm. Following its widespread success, Warner Bros. Television and The CW adapted the familiar characters in the television series Riverdale.
Featuring a noticeably darker more tone, skewering the classic All-American image of the characters as the eponymous small town was rocked by murder and bloody intrigue, the series proved popular with audiences and critics alike, elevated by its likable main cast. Where the series really found its viewership, however, was on Netflix, appearing on the streaming platform between the first and second season. The success led to a huge ratings bump when Riverdale premiered for its second season months later, with the show steadily maintaining critical acclaim while its viewership has gradually decreased over subsequent seasons.
While Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was originally planned as a spinoff to Riverdale to air alongside it on The CW, Riverdale's enormous success on Netflix led to the digital platform picking it up instead, with a one-season commitment to be split across two parts. Upon its successful premiere in 2018, Netflix immediately renewed the series for a second season to similarly be split into two parts while The CW developed its own spinoff to Riverdale in Katy Keene. As to why both spinoffs were canceled, there has been a major development since both premiered: HBO Max.
Both Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Katy Keene were praised by critics upon their respective premieres, with Sabrina remaining popular with audiences across its run. Having completed its two-season commitment for Sabrina and with the series co-produced by Warner Bros. Television, Netflix's move to cancel the show could be a political one not unlike its cancellation of the entire Marvel Television original programming as Disney prepared to launch Disney+, with Netflix refocusing on its own intellectual properties. The decision to announce the cancelation of Sabrina months before its premiere echoes a similar move announcing the cancellation of Jessica Jones months before the premiere of its third and final season.
For Katy Keene, the cancellation comes more traditionally motivated by low ratings. Despite its critical acclaim, the new series never quite found the audience Riverdale or Sabrina had right out of the gate. And with The CW's cross-distribution deal with Netflix having come to an end, with completed seasons debuting on the streaming platform a week after their respective finales, there is no chance of it finding a bigger audience there before the premiere of a potential second season. Instead, with Katy Keene already available to stream on HBO Max, the series could find its audience there, with The CW's announcement of the series' cancelation hinting at a possible future pick-up for a second season through the new digital platform.
The future for Archie Comics adaptations on television may not be as grim as the past week has suggested, with hope not yet completely dashed for a second season of Katy Keene elsewhere while Riverdale prepares to begin production on its fifth season. But, for the moment, the immediate demand for additional Archie properties to be adapted for television appears to have waned as the first wave of spinoffs begin to come off the air on different networks.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina stars Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina Spellman, Ross Lynch as Harvey Kinkle, Michelle Gomez as Mary Wardwell/Madam Satan, Jaz Sinclair as Rosalind Walker, Lachlan Watson as Theo Putnam, Gavin Leatherwood as Nicholas Scratch, Tati Gabrielle as Prudence Blackwood, Chance Perdomo as Ambrose Spellman, Lucy Davis as Hilda Spellman, Richard Coyle as Faustus Blackwood and Miranda Otto as Zelda Spellman. Parts 1-3 are streaming now on Netflix. Part 4 is expected to arrive sometime this fall.