Riverdale spin-off series Katy Keene just premiered this week on Thursday, but there’s already big casting news for the so-called high fashion fairy tale. The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes has been cast in the new Katy Keene series, according to Entertainment Weekly. It’s not clear exactly when Elwes will debut on The CW series, but the role comes on the heels of some of his recent television roles on shows such as Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Netflix’s Stranger Things. Elwes is also well-known for his roles in films such as Glory, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and more.
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According to Katy Keene co-creator Michael Grassi, Elwes’ role has a connection to Katy’s (Lucy Hale) past, though that connection is being kept under wraps.
“Cary Elwes has been cast as someone with an important connection to Katy’s mysterious past,” Grassi said.
Katy Keene follows the stories of the titular Katy Keene, Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), Pepper Smith (Julia Chan) and Jorge Lopez (Johnny Beauchamp) as they chase their dreams in New York City. The cast also includes Zane Holtz as K.O. Kelly, Katherine LaNasa as Gloria Grandbilt, and Camille Hyde and Lucien Laviscount as Alexandra and Alexander Cabot. The series is just the latest Archie Comics-inspired series to hit the screen, and it’s something that Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater described as being an Iron Man moment.
“I think a lot of people took our first two shows for granted – because Archie/Riverdale and Sabrina are our top properties. But Katy Keene is different. I liken it to our Iron Man moment,” Goldwater recently told Decider. “When Marvel announced plans for an Iron Man movie, a lot of people scoffed. They felt like their best characters – Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four – were already spoken for. But then they changed the game, and they reinvigorated the brand at the same time. We see a lot of parallels there with Katy Keene, who, look, we love – she’s an icon. But she’s also a deeper cut than Archie, Sabrina or even Josie. We see this as a really pivotal moment for the company and for our media properties.”
This isn’t the first time that the Archie Comic CEO has been this ecstatic about all of the shows finding homes in various spaces. He talked about this being a huge moment for new fans when Katy Keene‘s pilot got picked up.
“It is a watershed moment for the company,” Goldwater told ComicBook.com. “We are called Archie Comics, so most people don’t realize the breadth and depth of our IP. We literally have hundreds of brands, thousands of characters, obviously some way more well-known than others. Comic book people know Katy but the world at large don’t know Katy. And for us to be able to start to mine the depth of our library is a transformative moment for Archie Comics. It’s such an exciting moment in time for the company and it’s as exciting as when Riverdale first came along. It is that kind of seminal moment.”
Katy Keene airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.
(Photo: Rachel Murray/Getty Images)
