Archie and the Riverdale gang have a big problem heading their way, a big zombie problem.
Disney+ has greenlit a series based on Archie Comics’ series Afterlife With Archie, which sees the all-American teen and his friends staving off a zombie invasion in true horror tradition. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who created the original comic series alongside artist Francesco Francavilla, will serve as showrunner for the series with Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions producing. Aguirre-Sacasa and Berlanti Productions had previously collaborated on the CW’s teen soap Archie adaptation Riverdale, which ran for seven seasons, as well as it’s short-lived spinoff Katy Keene and Netflix’s Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina.
Afterlife With Archie was the first comic to come from Archie Comics that pushed the boundaries of the publisher’s kid and humor-oriented storytelling. The first issue reveals that Archie’s friend Jughead asks teenage with Sabrina Spellman to use some black magic to bring his dog Hotdog back to life after he gets hit by a car. However, Hotdog comes back as a zombie dog who immediately bites Jughead, dooming him to become a zombie as well. The two then start to shamble across Riverdale towards a dance at the high school being attended by Archie and his friends. The series takes the relationships of all the characters as seen in the past, but plays them for drama rather than comedy, and the zombie elements are played as straight up horror.
Premiering in 2013 to strong reviews and health sales, the series only ran ten issues before Aguirre-Sacasa’s obligations to Riverdale left him with no further time to script the comic series. Unfortunately, the cancellation came in the middle of the book’s second story arc, leaving readers with an unintended cliffhanger.
Warner Brothers initially licensed the series soon after it started for a potential film adaptation, with Aguirre-Sacasa scripting.
In an Instagram post last October where he revealed that the television series was in development at Disney, Aguirre-Sacasa also announced that he had finished scripting the last two issues of that story arc and that Francavilla had begun penciling it. However, these new issues have yet to be solicited for retailers.
Currently, Disney is eyeing a fall 2027 premiere for Afterlife With Archie.
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