Everything We Know About the Black Hood on Riverdale

Just two episodes of Riverdale Season 2 have aired and somehow three people have already died?! Ms. Grundy, Midge Klump and Moose Mason have all been killed by a mysterious hooded man—the same man who tried (and failed, thank god) to kill Fred Andrews. I’m dying to figure out who the F this guy is so that my beloved Bughead and Varchie can go back to dominating screen time so that justice can be served. So it got me thinking: when Archie recounted his dad’s shooting to Sheriff Keller, he ardently insisted that the gunman was wearing a hood—not a mask. Might’ve Archiekins dropped a major hint?

Fans of the OG Archie comics perked their ears when they heard that, and Reddit has be lit with theories. We did a deep dive and discovered a few things about the mysterious Black Hood.

The Black Hood made his first appearance in the Archie Comics back in October 1940

Seventy-seven years ago, comics lovers were introduced to the Black Hood on the pages of Top-Notch Comics #9. The mysterious vigilante quickly became a fan favourite of MLJ Comics—later renamed Archie Comics—as he fought evil in all shapes and forms outside the law and appeared to adhere to his own sense of justice. Back then, Black Hood was an ex-cop (a.k.a. Matthew Kipling “Kip” Burland) who had been framed for serious theft. Black Hood eventually cleared his name but continued to fight crime—that is, until he passed the Black Hood’s responsibilities to his nephew, Thomas “Kip” Burland.

The Black Hood made comeback in February 2015 

Here’s where it gets interesting: Black Hood was recast in 2015 in Dark Circle Comics, an imprint of the Archies with darker and more superhero-focused plotlines. It was there that the Black Hood was reimagined as a Philadelphia cop named Greg Hettinger, who intervened in a gun fight and took a bullet to the face. In the scuffle, Greg fired one gunshot before he was knocked out, but when Greg he came to, he realized he had killed Kip, the Black Hood. Later, a colleague jokingly gifted him the Black Hood costume and Greg decided to assume the role. After he was framed a crime and subsequently demoted, Greg decides to commit to his identity as the new Black Hood so he can clear his name and continue to clean up his city from crime.

It definitely feels like two worlds are colliding on Riverdale

It doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch to believe that Riverdale’s Black Hood may be the same dude from the Dark Circle series—and lots of fans seem to agree on that. He is, after all, targeting evil in all its various forms: Ms. Grundy was hooking up with another underaged boy when she took a dive (via cello bow gifted by her other illegal beau, no less), and Midge and Mason bit the dust after taking a hit of Jingle Jangle. But what about Fred? It’s not confirmed that he has ever done anything shady with the Lodges, though we do have our suspicions.

At least two things are certain: the killer on the loose defs goes by the name of Black Hood (shout out to Archie Comics’s Twitter for confirming that)—and he’s not seen his last victim yet.

Who will the Black Hood target next? 

There’s a whole whack of crime rippling through Riverdale, so it’s hard to say. It could be any number of the Southside Serpents, because duh. He could try to take down Hermione and Hiram, because y’all know they’re the masterminds behind pretty much everything bad in town. But he could also take aim at Jughead (Disclaimer: I WILL LITERALLY DIE) because he just got into bed with Penny Peabody, who FP says is the sketchiest legal counsel ever. Even Archie could be on the chopping block—dude just purchased Jingle Jangle and an under-the-table gun. Point is: anyone could be next and I have so many feelings about that fact.

Guess we will have to wait and see.

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