Riverdale: Vanessa Morgan announces pregnancy – Will it affect season 5?

Riverdale season 5: Vanessa Morgan announces pregnancy

Riverdale star Vanessa Morgan shared some expecting news with her followers on Friday: She and husband Michael Kopech, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, are expecting their first child.

Although Morgan confessed to debating whether to keep her pregnancy private, she ultimately decided to share the happy news with her fans via a sweet Instagram post. Not only did Morgan let fans in on the exciting news, but she even offered an update on her child’s gender with a series of shots snapped at her small baby gender reveal party.

“Was debating keeping this part of my life hidden, but I knew people would see pictures eventually with my belly & I wanted you guys to hear it from me,” Morgan wrote in her heartfelt announcement.

Of course, the news does pose one major question: how might Riverdale address Morgan’s pregnancy and will it affect her role in season 5?

Will Vanessa Morgan’s pregnancy affect Riverdale season 5

It’s not yet clear if Morgan’s pregnancy will affect her role in season 5 or the direction the writers choose to take her character in.

Given her January due date, it seems safe to assume Morgan will miss at least a few episodes this season. While the number of episodes is uncertain, it’s a common trend for actresses to miss a few episodes due to maternity leave so we fully expect Morgan’s character Toni Topaz will be written out for a few episodes timed to Morgan’s leave.

With Morgan likely to miss a few episodes, it seems safe to assume the writers will have to adjust some of their planned stories for Toni and Cheryl to accommodate Morgan’s pregnancy. It also seems likely the writers will have to get creative with the ways in which they choose to hide Morgan’s growing baby bump.

As The Flash proved in season 6 when working around star Danielle Panabaker’s pregnancy, there are a variety of tricks that can be used such as altered camera angles, tweaks to wardrobe and the occasional over-sized item used to hide a growing baby bump. Therefore, it seems safe to assume Riverdale will use similar tricks; however, there is one more possibility.

Could the Riverdale season 5 time jump allow Vanessa Morgan’s pregnancy to be written in?

While Riverdale season 5 will begin by tying up the storylines which would have been explored in the final episodes of season 4, it has been confirmed that the fourth episode of the season will feature a time jump. Although it’s not yet been confirmed how far Riverdale will jump ahead, the running assumption is the show will jump ahead by at least four or five years.

The planned time jump could, in theory, allow the writers to write Morgan’s pregnancy into the show and craft an organic storyline for her character. Think about it, with a time jump the writers could easily write the pregnancy into the show without having to make any major alterations to the storyline, instead using it as a jumping-off point for Toni’s post-time jump story.

Needless to say, the writers have plenty of options on their hands for addressing Morgan’s pregnancy; however, as of yet, it’s not yet been confirmed how it might affect plans for Riverdale season 5 or whether her pregnancy will be written into the show.

Riverdale season 5 is expected to premiere in early 2021 on The CW, with the season arriving on Netflix later that year.