The CW's Riverdale promised a sexy, updated take on the classic Archie comics series,
and thus far, the show has delivered.
Taking the comics' central group of teens and placing them smack dab in the middle of
a burgeoning murder mystery, Riverdale has the intrigue, sass, and fun of a bona fide
hit.
It also has taken a lot of liberties with how the characters appear and act compared
to the comics.
Here's a peek at how the cast of Riverdale should really look.
Archie Andrews
Archie is one of the most famous redheads in pop culture, so of course actor K.J.
Apa would have to dye his naturally brown hair red for the part.
However, despite the fact that Apa spent ten hours in a salon struggling to get the "right
shade of orange," it's nowhere near as light as Archie's hair from the comics.
Apa is also missing the character's signature freckles.
They did get the eyebrows pretty much perfect, though.
Of course, the show also had to CW-ify Archie a little.
"Oh..
My God!"
"What?"
"Game changer!
Archie got hot!
He's got abs now!"
The comic version of Archie wasn't exactly running around Riverdale showing off his six-pack,
and, while he rocks some pretty great cheekbones in the newer comics, classic Archie was much
more of a baby face.
Still, the show's fans don't seem to be complaining.
Jughead Jones
Cole Sprouse made a huge transformation from Suite Life child star to the angsty version
of Jughead Jones shown on Riverdale.
The actor had to dye his naturally blonde hair dark brown for the part, although he
keeps it slightly longer than Jughead does in the comics.
Still, Sprouse did a great job of adopting Jughead's signature squint and beanie.
The only real thing keeping him from being a dead ringer from the character is the nose.
In the original Archie comics, Jughead has a Pinnochio-style nose, which Sprouse — thankfully
— lacks.
Fred Andrews
Archie's dad Fred in the comics is overweight and nearly bald.
But The CW decided to give Poppa Andrews a little bit of an upgrade, casting former Beverly
Hills, 90210 heartthrob Luke Perry in the part.
Perry's Fred is pretty buff, with a bit of a beard and a messy hairstyle to match.
He's also definitely not sporting the tiny mustache Fred has in the comics.
Which is fine.
While we don't mind Perry's facial hair at all, a bald Perry with a beer belly isn't
really what anybody wants.
We feel old enough as it is just seeing him be a dad.
Cheryl Blossom
Cheryl Blossom gets a much bigger role in Riverdale than in the Archie comics, where
she mostly just serves as a supporting character and further romantic rival for Archie.
On the show, Cheryl and her brother Jason are at the center of the show's murder mystery,
and what Cheryl knows could end up being the key to solving the crime.
Like her comic book counterpart, Madelaine Petsch is a redhead, although her hair is
a bit darker than the character's bright locks.
Petsch also has brown eyes, while Cheryl is usually shown with green eyes in the comics.
But we're not criticizing.
After all, we've all seen what happens when you end up on Cheryl's bad side.
Kevin Keller
Kevin is fairly new to the comics, introduced in 2010 as the series' first openly gay character.
In the comics, Kevin is blonde, as opposed to actor Casey Cott, who has dark brown hair.
Cott also has green eyes, while in the comic, they're blue.
So… he pretty much looks nothing like the comics version of Kevin.
But who cares?
He just better keep making those snarky comments directly to the audience.
"Should we maybe re-binge Making a Murderer on Netflix tonight?"
Betty Cooper
Riverdale's resident brilliant blonde is played on the show by Lili Reinhart, who's shown
she already has the character's sweet persona down pat.
However, while the actress does sport Betty's signature blonde ponytail, her hair is a little
darker than the comics' yellow.
She also doesn't have the bangs that Betty is usually depicted with.
Other than that, though, Reinhart is pretty much a dead ringer for her classic character.
Veronica Lodge
Actress Camila Mendes said she wasn't planning on auditioning for the part of Veronica until
she found out producers were making the character Latina, a departure from her Caucasian background
in the comics.
Mendes, who is Brazilian, said she liked that the character "wasn't a stereotype" of Latinas,
which ended up attracting her to the role.
Aside from Riverdale's change in Veronica's background, Mendes is pretty much identical
to her comic book counterpart, with the same striking beauty and dark hair.
Reggie Mantle
Archie's comic book rival Reggie is played by former Disney Channel actor Ross Butler
on Riverdale, changing the character's Caucasian background to Eurasian.
However, Butler definitely has the slicked-back dark hair, cocky attitude, and good looks
to bring Riverdale's resident bad boy Reggie to life.
Now if only he'd get more screen time...
Josie McCoy
Riverdale made the decision to make the entirety of the Josie and the Pussycats lineup African-American
— unlike the comics, which featured two white characters.
Ashleigh Murray leads the band as Josie McCoy, embodying the character's signature sass,
spunk, and musical talent pretty much perfectly.
In the comics and cartoons, Josie is a yet another redhead, only she also likes to wear
cat ears and a cat suit while rocking out — naturally.
Riverdale moved away from the character's outlandish style into more toned-down, fashion-forward
outfits, which reflects the character's transition from sweet girl to ambitious rocker.
Which, y'know, rocks.
Bah boom, sssss!
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