Are CW's 'Riverdale' and Netflix's 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' in the Same Universe?

The CW drama Riverdale is based on the characters from the Archie comics. The series, which was developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, centers around Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), and Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) as they navigate life as high schoolers and the tumultuous events that seem to make their way to their town of Riverdale.

Riverdale debuted on The CW in 2017. That same year, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa began development on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which is based on Archie comic series of the same name. The plan was for it to air on The CW as a companion series to Riverdale. The main character, Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka), was supposed to appear on Riverdale before being featured in her own show.

However, plans were altered when CAOS moved to Netflix. Fans of both shows may wonder how the two series are actually connected and if they exist in the same universe. Luckily we have the answers.

Even though they are two distinctly separate television shows, both Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are connected in small and big ways. For instance, in the Archie comics, Riverdale and Greendale are neighboring towns. Viewers of CAOS will know that Sabrina lives in Greendale, which is located on the opposite side of the Sweetwater River from Riverdale. The two towns aren't the only connections between the shows.

CAOS and Riverdale also contain a handful of connections via small crossovers and Easter eggs. Moses Thiessen, who played Ben Button in Riverdale, appears in Season 1 Episode 7 as Ben the pizza guy in CAOS. Then Penelope Blossom, one of the biggest villains on Riverdale (Nathalie Boltt) appeared in a brief role in the season premiere of CAOS. However, she wasn't really playing herself — she was disguised as Prudence.

During the same season, audiences see Hilda (Lucy Davis), become a human-eating spider. She wears a Southside Serpent leather jacket. The Serpents is a pretty dangerous gang that mainly resides on the south side of Riverdale. Meanwhile, Doctor Cerberus makes a trip to a Riverdale staple­ —Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe to get Hilda some food. These scenes also make the connection that both shows are set in the same universe.

Audiences see Sabrina and Ambrose Spellman (Chance Perdomo) take a trip to the other side of the river to retrieve the Crown of Herod in Season 3 Episode 3 of CAOS, in order to add it to their Unholy Regalia. The crown was bought to Riverdale by Benjamin Blossom, Cheryl Blossom's ancestor. Along the way, a few Easter eggs pop up. There's a sign saying "JJ Wuz Here," referring to Jughead Jones. And when Ambrose pulls the crown of a maple tree, that's a nod to Cheryl's family's maple syrup empire.

The greatest crossover between Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is going to happen very soon. The Season 5 finale of Riverdale teased some witchy happenings with Chelsea. Showrunner Roberto has announced that Kiernan Shipka will reprise her role as Sabrina Spellman in the CW drama. Warner Bros. TV took to social media also sharing the good news and tweeted, "Looks like someone is making the road trip from Greendale to Riverdale. See you in season 6, @kiernanshipka."

In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Roberto shared, "We've been talking about having Sabrina visit Riverdale since season 1, so it's thrilling that this is finally happening, as part of our Riverdale special event. It's also perfect that she shows up to help Cheryl Blossom during her hour of greatest need. Everyone on set lost their minds — I think fans will, too. It's really fun and special."

Of course, the obvious question here is: How's this crossover even possible since Sabrina died on CAOS? Maybe the timeline of both shows wasn't as close as it appeared, or Sabrina could be a supernatural being returning from the grave. It will be interesting to see what happens next season on Riverdale when Sabrina makes her appearance on Episode 4, which is titled "The Witching Hour(s)".