‘Riverdale’: Lili Reinhart Says the Black Hood Is Like the Phantom of the Opera

The Black Hood stepped into new territory at the tail end of last week’s Riverdale, and Lili Reinhart says that it’s only the beginning.

ComicBook.com was part of a roundtable with Reinhart during a recent set visit, where she teased what fans can expect in tonight’s episode, “When A Stranger Calls”. The promo for the episode hinted at Reinhart’s character, Betty Cooper, receiving multiple phone calls from the town’s masked villain. And as Reinhart put it, the motivations behind those calls will be surprising.

“I think it is because the Black Hood, like he said in his letter, was inspired by her speech.” Reinhart explained. “And I think to me, and the way Roberto and I talked about it, the Black hood and Betty are like the Phantom of the Opera and Christine in a way. He wants to kind of puppeteer her in order to get the town to where he wants it to be in a way, in a very sick and manipulative way. So he is this horrible figure who is wanting to expel Riverdale of its sins and he is using Betty to try and do that.”

According to Reinhart, the Black Hood’s manipulation could have a pretty big effect on the various relationships in Betty’s life.

“I think the Black Hood puppeteering Betty effects Betty’s relationship with everyone,” Reinhart hinted. “It completely takes over her life, her emotional state, her mental state, her mental well being. I guess I can’t say too much, but it puts her relationships in jeopardy.”

But along the way, Betty will find help in a somewhat surprising ally, her best friend and neighbor Archie Andrews (KJ Apa).

“Betty ends up confiding in Archie,” Reinhart said, “and I think it is a really nice opportunity from an audience standpoint to see kind of the relationship between Betty and Archie that you didn’t get to see too much in Season 1. I think Season 1 focused a lot on Betty and Jughead and Betty and Veronica and you didn’t get a look inside Betty and Archie’s relationship and their friendship. Although this is a very unfortunate situation for Betty to be in, it kind of gives the audience an opportunity to see how she interacts with Archie, and how she confides in him and how they help one another.”

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.