‘Riverdale’ Will “Definitely” Reveal Toni’s Backstory – but Not Yet

Ask any Riverdale fan what they know about Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan), and they’ll rattle off facts: fiercely loyal girlfriend of Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch); strong leader of the Pretty Poisons, and heir apparent to the Southside Serpents gang; owner of the coolest head of hair in town (sorry, Archie). But ask them about Toni’s backstory — who she is, where she comes from, what her parents are like — and you’ll mostly draw a blank. Don’t worry, though, that will be changing, according to Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

“Yeah, definitely,” Aguirre-Sacasa told Decider when asked whether we’ll be hearing more about Toni’s backstory.

There are some spotty details we know about the time before she met her lady-love Cheryl. First introduced in Season 2, Toni was raised as a member of the Southside Serpents, Riverdale‘s really extreme biker gang that is also very civic-minded and sometimes helps out the police. We also met her grandfather Thomas Topaz (Graham Greene) back in Season 2’s “Chapter Twenty-Four: The Wrestler,” one of the founding members of the Serpents. He’s of Uktena descent (not a real Native American tribe, but in fact a horned serpent from Cherokee myths), and told Toni and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) stories about how the founders of Riverdale stole their land, leading to the formation of the Serpents.

Since then, we haven’t seen Thomas, and other than passing mentions of Toni’s Great-Great Grandfather and Uncle, nothing has been revealed about her past, pre-Season 2. She’s talked a bit in Season 3 about being raised by the Serpents, to explain to Jughead why he should hand over control of the gang to her; and had conversations with Cheryl about the different ways they were raised. But does she have parents? Was she grown in a lab in order to seed bisexuals with Harley Quinn hair all over the world? What’s her deal?

If you’re wondering about the answer to any of those questions (except the second one, because it’s ludicrous), you’re going to have to keep waiting for a while.

“The first chunk of episodes, it really is Cheryl, her feet are kind of in the fire, though we do learn some stuff about Toni,” Aguirre-Sacasa continued. “We will, absolutely.”

Right now, the Riverdale production is up to about Episode 10 of Season 4; and as revealed at New York Comic Con, Cheryl’s story — saying goodbye to her brother Jason (Trevor Stines), who died in the first episode of the show — will climax and reach a resolution in Episode 9. So even though we “absolutely” will get more on where Toni comes from, don’t expect any news on that front until Riverdale returns from its midseason break, in 2020.

Riverdale returns to The CW on Wednesday, October 9 at 8/7c.

Where to watch Riverdale