The Pussycats May Be Returning to Riverdale

Carolyn Twersky
·3 min read
Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

From Seventeen

  • Earlier this month, Vanessa Morgan called out the lack of Black representation in media, seemingly referencing Riverdale.

  • In response, Riverdale's creator announced the show was going to work on "honoring" their "actors and characters of color."

  • Now, Riverdale is apparently considering bringing the Pussycats back on the show.

Earlier this month, Riverdale's creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa promised that the show would make changes in order to honor it's "actors and characters of color" after Vanessa Morgan seemingly called him out for the handling of Black characters in the past. Now, it seems like some change may already be underway.

Last week, Lili Reinhart had a chat with Asha Bromfield on Instagram Live. Asha previously played Pussycat Melody Valentine on Riverdale, but hasn't been back since the first season.

The conversation turned to Black representation in the media, and specifically Riverdale. That's when Lili said that she recently talked to Roberto and he already had plans to make changes to the show in order to build upon Black characters. She revealed that Roberto wanted to bring the Pussycats back to the Riverdale in order to "do right by their characters."

"I think people are learning...and they're growing and we have to give them a chance to make the adjustments," Lili said. "We can say obviously, 'This isn’t working' or, 'This wasn't working,' 'This is wrong,' 'This needs to be fixed,' and now it’s like, OK, let’s give people a chance to learn and make those changes. I think Roberto...wants Riverdale to be spearheading a movement of a TV show that takes what’s happening in the world and actually does something about it. So, I’m really proud of him for that."

It's unclear how definite these plans are at this point. Asha didn't seem like she knew about them when Lili brought it up and obviously she would be included, being one of the Pussycats. Plus, Ashley Murray is no longer on the show, having left for Katy Keene, so who knows how they would work around that. Lili also didn't mention whether or not the return of the Pussycats would occur in season five. Will the Pussycats magically reappear at the end of senior year? Or maybe, they'll have risen to fame during the five-year time jump. As of now, unfortunately, we don't have any details.

This announcement comes after Vanessa spoke out earlier this month and revealed that she is paid less that any other series regular on Riverdale, a notable fact considering she is the only Black actor in the category. Roberto responded with a statement and promised to "be part of the movement, not outside it."

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