Archie Andrews and the Riverdale gang may find a strange new life as Disney+ is making a big commitment to a wild new take on the iconic characters!
For decades, Archie Comics was known as a wholesome and fun story of Archie Andrews and his friends in Riverdale getting into hijinks. Fans loved the comedy of Archie, his best friend, Jughead, and the love triangle between Archie, Betty, and Veronica. True, there were some quirky bits like an infamous comic where Archie met Marvel’s vigilante the Punisher, yet the comics retained their wholesome image.
That was changed in 2015 when Riverdale premiered on the CW. The drama recast the Archie mythos as a strange murder mystery layered with wild twists. The show ran seven seasons, getting crazier with each year for a tale involving ghosts, witches and time travel.
The series inspired two spinoffs, with Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina turning that character into a much darker anti-hero, while Katy Keene was a musical comedy that ran just one season.
Now, Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, with Francesco Francavilla, is planning a new take as Deadline reports Disney+ has put into development Afterlife With Archie, an hour-long drama series based on the comic book written by Aguirre-Sacasa and Francavilla. The show has received a pilot to streaming order, meaning fans can expect the wildest take on Archie yet!
What is Afterlife With Archie about?
As crazy as Riverdale could be, Afterlife With Archie is still an often insane take on the property. Beginning in 2013, the comic imagines Riverdale suddenly overcome by a zombie plague, forcing Archie and his friends to battle the undead.
The comic got more outlandish as it went, with ghosts and unique turns on the characters. For example, Josie and the Pussycats are vampires who recreate themselves every decade as a different girl singing group while fighting evil. It also had a companion comic with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (which would help inspire the Netflix series).
While popular, the comic came to a sudden end after only 10 issues, mostly due to Aguirre-Sacasa’s busy schedule. The show being developed for Disney+ is interesting, as it seems the streamer is trying to get into more “adult” style entertainment to increase viewership.
It’s unlikely any of the Riverdale cast members would be back to reprise their roles as this is a different world, so likely it’s going to feature a brand-new cast. There’s no word yet on which characters might pop up, but it’s logical Sabrina can be involved due to the supernatural aspects.
This is all in the early stages, so the series may not reach Disney+ for a year or two, yet promises another crazy take on Archie to show how that character can work in many mediums.
Riverdale is streaming on Netflix.