Your Very First Look at a Character From the Upcoming ‘Riverdale’ Spinoff About Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

We’re excited for the upcoming Riverdale spin-off The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which promises to be a similarly dark take on the Archie Comics side character Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. We’re excited because show creator (and Archie Chief Creative Officer) Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has posted a brand new image of the latest character to join the cast — Sabrina’s cat, Salem.

While normally the casting of a cat wouldn’t be notable, if you’re a fan of the comics or the Melissa Joan Hart sitcom version, you know that Salem’s not just a cat. In the sitcom, he was a warlock who’d been transformed into a cat for 100 years for trying to take over the world. However, the Chilling Adventures version of the character has a much more serious take. This version of Salem was turned into a cat after refusing to help the accused witch he knocked up (as a human) when she’s put before the Salem Witch Trials.

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A post shared by Kiernan Shipka (@kiernanshipka)

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Salem’s voice actor has been cast yet — though Nick Bakay, the voice of the sitcom Salem, is available — but we do know so far who will be Sabrina. The Teenage Witch herself will be played by Kiernan Shipka. Despite being only 19 years old, she’s had an impressive career. Shipka’s already played Sally Draper in Mad Men, B.D. Merrill/Hyman in Ryan Murphy’s Feud and Jinora in The Legend of Korra.

Aside from Sabrina and Salem, the only other casting news we know so far is that Jaz Sinclair will portray Rosalind Walker, one of Sabrina’s fellow students. Sinclair has previously appeared in Netflix’s Easy and the film Paper Towns. She’s also set to appear in the upcoming horror film Slender Man.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina  is described as a horror series that doubles as a coming-of-age story. It’s been compared to Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, in that Sabrina will be fighting the evil forces threatening Riverdale’s neighboring town Greendale.

See the first look at Sabrina’s cat Salem in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina below:

Ladies and gentlemen, meet #Greendale’s latest resident. All hail, Salem! #sabrina, #netflix pic.twitter.com/XZ1dNPgvja

— RobertoAguirreSacasa (@WriterRAS) February 9, 2018

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will air on Netflix later this year.

Featured image by Robert Hack courtesy of Archie Comics