‘Riverdale’ Trailer: CW Unveils Shirtless Archie 2.0 And Teases Forbidden Fling With Ms. Grundy

The Riverdale release date is Jan. 26, and we finally have the first full trailer for Greg Berlanti’s fifth comic adaptation on The CW. The footage doesn’t give us any new details about the storyline, but it does show two separate shots of Archie’s shiny six-pack, a serious upgrade from the freckled redhead in the comics.

The trailer shows a seemingly disturbed Cheryl Blossom sitting by river's edge on a gloomy day. Cut to a shot of Archie wiping the sweat from his forehead with the bottom of his distressed white T in slow motion as one of his love interests, Betty, drives by.

Then, the trailer starts to pick up. Archie goes for a run in his blue short shorts. A pair of bloody hands. A house party. A bag of cash. A bro-brawl. Cheerleading practice. A forbidden love affair with the music teacher. The tragic death of the most popular kid in high school. A sexy new student moves to town. Looks like we’ve got the next teen drama hit -- Gossip Girl meets Vampire Diaries with a hint of Teen Wolf and Greg Berlanti’s magic touch.

Photos released today also show a few more characters. At what looks to be a school dance, Josie and the Pussycats’ Josie McCoy performs guitar on stage. Cheryl Blossom stands on stage in a red dress. Archie and Betty share an intimate dance and a date at the diner. Veronica shows up at the diner, and there’s also a shot of Veronica and her mother looking quite bougie. Betty dances around in her Riverdale cheerleading outfit. And finally a group shot of Archie, Veronica, Jughead and Betty peering through a window.

Here’s the full synopsis:

As a new school year begins, the town of Riverdale is reeling from the recent, tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom — and nothing feels the same… Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) is still the all-American teen, but the summer’s events made him realize that he wants to pursue a career in music — not follow in his dad’s footsteps — despite the sudden end of his forbidden relationship with Riverdale’s young music teacher, Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel). Which means Archie doesn’t have anyone who will mentor him — certainly not singer Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), who is only focused on her band, the soon-to-be-world-famous Pussycats. It’s all weighing heavily on Archie’s mind — as is his fractured friendship with budding writer and fellow classmate Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse). Meanwhile, girl-next-door Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) is anxious to see her crush Archie after being away all summer, but she’s not quite ready to reveal her true feelings to him. And Betty’s nerves — which are hardly soothed by her overbearing mother Alice (Mädchen Amick) aren’t the only thing holding her back. When a new student, Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), arrives in town from New York with her mother Hermione (Marisol Nichols), there’s an undeniable spark between her and Archie, even though Veronica doesn’t want to risk her new friendship with Betty by making a play for Archie. And then there’s Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch)... Riverdale’s Queen Bee is happy to stir up trouble amongst Archie, Betty, and Veronica, but Cheryl is keeping secrets of her own. What, exactly, is she hiding about the mysterious death of her twin brother, Jason? Riverdale may look like a quiet, sleepy town, but there are dangers in the shadows...