ET spoke with the show's creator about how they will be handling Perry's role in the next season.
Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa wants to honor the late Luke Perry in the best way possible.
As the third season of The CW show comes to an end, Aguirre-Sacasa and his team are exploring ways to address the absence of Perry's role as Fred Andrews. The actor died in March after suffering a massive stroke. Still in the early stages of preparing for the next season, Aguirre-Sacasa confirmed to ET that they will acknowledge Perry's character's disappearance "at the top of season four."
"We knew we had to honor Luke and address Luke's death on the show," Aguirre-Sacasa told ET's Leanne Aguilera on Friday. "When Luke had passed, we had already pretty much plotted out the end of this season and written the end of this season. Rather than try to squeeze something in and potentially not get it right, we thought, 'Let's take a beat and let's figure out really what would be the best way to honor Luke and to honor the character of Fred, and let's do it at the top of season four.'"
"Luckily, Molly [Ringwald] was already slated to come, so we kind of just reflected and wanted to give ourselves the time to do those things right," he added.
As for how fans will be seeing Fred's departure from the Andrews family, Aguirre-Sacasa said they "have an idea."
"Honestly though, things may change over the next month and I'd rather not say for fear of it changing," he admitted.
Riverdale fans last saw Perry on episode 19 of season three, during which he shared a touching moment with his on-screen son KJ Apa, who portrays Archie. Since then, Ringwald, who plays Archie's mother, Mary, has arrived in town while Fred is away on business.
Additionally, Aguirre-Sacasa confirmed to ET that Ringwald will have a larger role in Riverdale next year. "We love Molly and we always love having her," he said, adding, "I think she’s going to be a bigger presence next season for sure."
Last month, ET also spoke with Apa, as he opened up about how Perry's legacy would live on.
"His legacy is going to live on in the lives around him that he worked with," he expressed. "I'm never going to forget him and I think it's still very fresh and we're all still dealing with it."
Hear more of what the actor said in the video below.
Riverdale's season three finale airs Wednesday, May 15 on The CW.
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