MovieChat Forums > Riverdale (2017) Discussion > What Year is it set in?

What Year is it set in?


I couldn't really tell from the trailer, I thought it was going to be set in modern times, but parts of he trailer suggest otherwise.

Glader #1
Halfblood #16

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Present day. But they are purposefully going for that retro Americana look, as a nod to how old Archie Comics are, how the old skool wholesome facade if small town America is being subverted, etc.

Just a Jeannie in a bottle...

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What in the trailers suggest it is set outside the present day?

We try but we didn't have long
We try but we don't belong...


-Hot Chip (Boy from School)

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That's just how the Archie comics are, they have always been set in "present day", but the cars, clothes, and hair are always given a more "timeless" look.

End of line

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Yeah, I notice the artwork on the Archie comics going all the way back to the 70's have a very generic depiction of fashion and hairstyles. Nothing too obvious as to give away what time period it is. It's not like looking over those old Marvel comics from the 70's where you see people with bellbottom pants or from the 80's where you see people with Bodyglove shorts and wraparound sunglasses.







When I'm good, I'm GOOD. When I'm bad, I'm BETTER.

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Not anymore. They relaunched a couple of years ago with modern look and different artistic styles

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The question has been answers, but just for clarity, they refer to Jughead as "Donnie Darko" in the trailer, so it would technically have to take place after 2001.

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I have read the comics since I was a little kid. The comics do make occasional pop culture references that could arguably be period specific. But it's done in an indirect manner. They substitute parodies in place of real world pop culture references, but their sources of inspiration is still kinda obvious.

Examples: Jughead going to see a scary shark movie called "Jowls". Archie trying to audition for "International Idol". Betty and Veronica getting sexy fashion inspiration from watching "Smelrose Place".

Other comics do that too. In the early 80's, Marvel's Dazzler had lead character, superheroine/pop singer, Alison Blaire do a music video called "Chiller" in one particular issue. Comico's Elementals had a storyline in the late 80's featuring a deranged televangelist named Jeremy Skagg, a parody of Jimmy Swaggart who was headlining at the time with a major sex scandal.













When I'm good, I'm GOOD. When I'm bad, I'm BETTER.

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The only Archie comic I have any experience with is Afterlife with Archie, and as far as I now, they don't make any pop culture references in it. They MAY have mentioned "Flowers in the Attic" once--but I can't remember if they actually used the name of the movie.

Either way, I think something like Archie doesn't have to have a distinct time period, because it's always going to have that 1950s feel to it, even if it's set in 2017 or 2256.

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With the "teens" being referred to as Millennials and being high school Sophomores it couldn't be much earlier than 2016.

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I forgot that line. That wss the one part I didn't like.

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2016... The earliest it could be is fall 2012. There's a Mad Men season 5 reference, which premiered May of that year and the school year just started.

The visual aesthetic is much more generic and timeless (somewhat comparable to Pushing Daisies or the new A Series of Unfortunate Events) but leaning towards the 50s and 60s.


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"No! He is imprinted on you like a gay duckling. If you don't wean him off you slowly, he'll die."

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The old Chevy (a 1961,62 or 63 model) briefly shown in the trailer made it look like it was going to be a period piece.

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Red older convertible . . . my first thought was that was Archies car, and given it was being driven by a redhead, and me not knowing who was playing who.

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I got the feeling that's it's not set in any particular time other than 'Recent Modern' it gave me a similar feeling of time as Gotham, Lemony Snicket, Pushing Daisies.

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