Prepare yourself for some dark witchy magic with the release of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Netflix’s highly anticipated and exciting new original series from the creators of Riverdale.
The new series imagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft. Tonally in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, this adaptation finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature — half-witch, half-mortal — while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit. Sabrina’s character will be hunted by the demonic Madam Satan and the Church of Night’s high priest, Father Blackwood, while at the same time she has to try to manage being a normal high school student.
So where did the idea come from? The series is actually based on Riverdale and now Sabrina creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s comic series.
“Sabrina takes characters we know and love and pushes them in a new, ghastly direction,” the comic’s artist, Robert Hack, said.
“The horror in Sabrina carries so much weight because we’ve cared for these characters for, quite literally, generations. And Roberto’s scripts alternate between tugging at heartstrings and ripping them out.”
Aguirre-Sacasa added: “One day, Sabrina’s going to be the most powerful sorceress who’s ever lived – Archie‘s equivalent of Doctor Strange – but right now, she’s a 16-year-old girl who’s figuring out who she wants to be and if she’s going to prom or not.”
THE CHARACTERS
Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka): Sabrina, an empowered young woman who is half-human and half-witch, begins her dark education as a sorceress, even as she tries to maintain a normal life as a sophomore at Baxter High. Intelligent, compassionate and brave to the point of recklessness, Sabrina is all that stands between humankind and the forces of darkness that threaten it.
Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch): The prince charming of this horror story, Harvey is the son of a coal miner. He’s just as much a dreamboat as he is a dreamer — and he dreams about living happily ever after with Sabrina. But he’s totally clueless about the dark forces conspiring to keep him and Sabrina apart.
Hilda Spellman (Lucy Davis): One of Sabrina’s two witch aunts. More nurturing than Zelda, Hilda’s motherly nature and warm sense of humour belie a wicked, ghoulish streak. She is as adept at brewing spite jars against her family’s enemies as she is at concocting love potions for the students at Baxter High.
Zelda Spellman (Miranda Otto): Sabrina’s sterner witch aunt. Proud and devout, Zelda believes there is no greater honor than serving the Dark Lord as a member of the Church of Night. She is the family’s disciplinarian, fiercely protective of Sabrina, and very much Cain to Hilda’s Abel.
Mary Wardell / Madam Satan (Michelle Gomez): Sabrina’s favourite teacher and mentor at Baxter High. When she is possessed by the Devil’s handmaiden, Madam Satan, Ms. Wardwell turns into a sultry, cunning manipulator, always trying to lure Sabrina down the Path of Night.
Agatha (Adeline Rudolph), Prudence (Tati Gabrielle), Dorcas (Abigail Cowen): The three Weird Sisters—a trio of powerful, uncanny teenage witches at the Academy of Unseen Arts who look down their noses at Sabrina for being half-mortal.
Ambrose Spellman (Chance Perdomo): Sabrina’s warlock cousin from England. Placed under house-arrest by the Witches Council, Ambrose is forbidden from leaving the funeral home where he lives with the Spellman woman. Witty, puckish, and pan-sexual, he is one of Sabrina’s partners in crime, always up for mischief.
Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle): High Priest of the Church of Night and Dean of the Academy of the Unseen Arts. Ruthless and ambitious, Blackwood hides a terrifying dark agenda that will put him in direct conflict with Sabrina and other members of the coven.
Nicholas Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood): A young, handsome warlock at the Academy of Unseen Arts who befriends new student Sabrina Spellman. An acolyte of Sabrina’s father’s teachings, Nicholas is drawn to Sabrina, as well, and there are immediate sparks between them.
Rosalind Walker (Jaz Sinclair) and Susie Putnam (Lachlan Watson): Rosalind, the brash, empowered and outspoken daughter of Greendale’s minister and Sabrina’s best friend at Baxter High. Susie Putnam is one of Sabrina’s friends at Baxter High and a founding member of the school’s newly formed WICCA club. Brave and optimistic despite being bullied at school, Susie lives on a farm at the outskirts of town and deals with a terrifying supernatural threat at home.
Starring Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) as Sabrina, Ross Lynch (Austin & Ally) as Harvey Kinkle, Michelle Gomez (Doctor Who) as Madam Satan, Lucy Davis (Wonder Woman) and Miranda Otto (The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers) as Hilda and Zelda Spellman, Richard Coyle (The Collection) as Father Blackwood, Chance Perdomo (Midsomer Murders) as Sabrina’s cousin Ambrose, and Tati Gabrielle (The 100) as her rival Prudence.
The 10-episode season will hit Netflix October 26th internationally. And have no fear little witches, the series has already got the greenlight for a second 10-episode season.
