Cole Sprouse Hates That Everyone Is Calling 'Riverdale' Season 2 "Darker"

Riverdale's second season premieres tonight and fans have been hearing for months to expect a much darker story than what was told in season one. One of the show's stars, however, says that "darker" isn't the word he'd use.

Cole Sprouse (Jughead Jones) recently told Glamour that while everyone -- including Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and most of the show's cast -- has been teasing a "dark" storyline for season two he's tired of hearing the term and he also doesn't agree with the that description.

"I guarantee you I have not been using that word!" Sprouse said. "That word has been so buzzed around by now it's making me sick. I hate that word. I don't know when it was used, but it's so vague. I really don't think it does a service to season two at all."

For those who tuned in for the first season finale, however, it's hard to imagine a better description than "darker." Riverdale's first season ended with Archie's dad, Fred, being shot by a masked gunman. And if that cliffhanger ending wasn't dark enough, star Camila Mendes (Veronica Lodge) previously said that the show goes full on into the thriller genre with "terrifying" obstacles for the characters.

"Expect things to get even darker. In season one, we were testing the waters, and in season two, we're really diving in. We've fully submerged ourselves into the thriller genre, and the obstacles that our characters will face are terrifying," Mendes told Entertainment Weekly.

Sprouse, however, said the show's genera goes not into thriller, but more into horror and that "darker" is just the world everyone attached themselves to.

"Yeah, genre-wise we end up moving toward horror, but I don't know when the word "darker" was first pitched in," he said. "People just went ape-shit with it."

Riverdale fans will get to see for themselves if "darker" is the right description when the show returns for its second season tonight at 8/7c on The CW.