Riverdale promotes cast member to series regular and it’s long overdue

Riverdale season 5 has promoted long-time recurring cast member Drew Ray Tanner to a series regular position and it’s well-deserved.

Riverdale may not be airing on our TV screens in its usual slot this fall because of everything happening in the world but the show will return to our lives in January 2021 for its fifth season. And now, we know that we should get used to seeing a lot more of one particular face.

As revealed by E! News, it has been confirmed that long-time recurring cast member Drew Ray Tanner has finally been promoted to a series regular position ahead of season 5. Tanner portrays the character of Fangs Fogarty and he joined the show early on in its second season as the Southside Serpent.

Riverdale EP Roberto Aguirre Sacasa revealed that they were all “thrilled he’s joining [them] for season five as a series regular” and that Fangs will be “living with on-again, off-again boyfriend Kevin Keller and Serpent Queen Toni Topaz.” He also revealed that we’ll be seeing more of Drew singing later down the line.

A well-earned promotion for Riverdale’s Drew Ray Tanner

To say that promoting Tanner to series regular is the right move would be a major understatement. The actor has delivered some great performances over the past couple of years but it did always feel like the show wasn’t giving Fangs enough to work with, casting him in whatever position they needed him to fill – be it Farm member, Gryphons & Gargoyles-loving town-resident, Archie’s sparring partner or friend of random dude that he’d never interacted with before.

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His relationship with Kevin was particularly underdeveloped because almost all of it took place off the screen and that made it hard to follow where they were romantically throughout season 4.

With Tanner earning himself that long overdue promotion, this suggests we’re finally going to get to see Fangs come to the forefront as a main character; not a supporting character in somebody else’s story – and that’s something we haven’t really seen since his arc in season 2.

He’s capable of greatness and has shown us that many times in spite of his limited material, so you can rest assured that we’re ready to see him really shine in Riverdale season 5.

Congratulations to Drew Ray Tanner – we can’t wait to see what’s ahead for him and Fangs Fogarty!

Riverdale recently resumed production in Vancouver and season 5 is expected to air in January 2021.

Are you excited to see more of Fangs in Riverdale season 5? Are you looking forward to a greater exploration of his relationship with Kevin? Let us know in the comments below!