During the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Riverdale executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa announced that the Archie Comics show will pay tribute to the late Luke Perry in its upcoming season four premiere, with Perry’s friend and former Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty making a guest appearance.
Perry, who passed away in March aged just 52, portrayed the character of Fred Andrews in Riverdale, and the tribute episode will be “very emotional [and] reflect Perry’s enduring legacy and the indelible imprint his character.” Aguirre-Sacasa also went on to reveal that he and Perry had been planning on bringing Doherty in for a guest appearance and that it was “something that Luke wanted to happen since season 1”.
“They were such good friends, and when we were putting together this tribute episode, we wanted to make it as special as possible, and so we asked Shannen to do a pivotal, super-emotional role,” said Aguirre-Sacasa. “She read the script and immediately said ‘yes.’ It’s very impactful.”
“When Luke passed it was towards the end of season 3 and we thought rather than rush an episode in we would take our time,” the showrunner continued. “We really wanted to honor Luke, to honor Fred and we wanted it to be a standalone, really emotional, really focused on what this character meant to this group of people.”
Riverdale season 4 is set to premiere on The CW on October 9th.
