Netflix’s upcoming and still untitled Sabrina The Teenage Witch TV series has already cast its lead character perfectly with Mad Men‘s Kiernan Shipka, and now another excellent choice has been made.
Deadline reports that Doctor Who‘s Michelle Gomez has been cast as Mary Wardell, “Sabrina’s favorite teacher and mentor at Baxter High. When she is possessed by the devil’s handmaiden, Madam Satan, Ms. Wardell turns into a sultry, cunning manipulator, always trying to lure Sabrina down the Path of Night.” It’s hard to think of anyone who’ll have more fun and be as fun to watch playing a friendly teacher who is possessed by a demonic spirit than Michelle Gomez, and we heartily support this decision.
Sabrina has also cast another of its lead roles, as newcomer Chance Perdomo has landed the role of Sabrina’s English warlock cousin Ambrose Spellman. “Placed under house arrest by the Witches Council, Ambrose is forbidden from leaving the funeral home where he lives with the Spellman women. Witty, puckish and pan-sexual, he is one of Sabrina’s partners in crime, always up for mischief.”
The show is based on the fantastic horror comic Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Robert Hack, and we’re hoping that the show sticks to the comic’s blend of beautiful visuals and shockingly dark chills. Deadline’s report describes the show 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.”
Aguirre-Sacasa is one of the key forces behind Riverdale and we can expect crossovers, if not a zombie Archie.
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