Zombies Are Invading Riverdale as an “Afterlife With Archie” Series is in the Works for Disney+
The team behind the CW “Riverdale” series are reuniting for this horror-laden take on the Archie gang.
Disney+ recently gave us Marvel heroes fighting (and often becoming) zombies, and now it’s the Archie gang’s turn, with Afterlife with Archie now in development for the streaming service.
What’s Happening:
- First reported on in August by theinsneider.com, it’s now been substantiated with additional details by Deadline that Disney+ has an Afterlife with Archie TV series in the works.
- Based on the comic book of the same name, the series would find Archie and the good people of Riverdale dealing with a full blown zombie apocalypse. Receiving both critical acclaim and high sales, the 2013 Afterlife with Archie comic book was a turning point for Archie Comics as their first story not aimed at a young audience. Its popularity would lead to follow-ups and other more older teen and adult-aimed Archie stories in the years since.
- The comic was created by writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Francesco Francavilla, and Aguirre-Sacasa would then go on to create and executive produce the CW series Riverdale, which itself got attention by mixing a noir-style murder mystery with the Archie characters. As Riverdale continued over its seven-season run, the storylines got more outlandish, with fans often speculating if an Afterlife with Archie scenario could ever happen, though it was not to be (at least on that show). Aguirre-Sacasa also produced the short-lived Riverdale CW spinoff, Katy Keene, and the Archie-based The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for Netflix, which eventually did a crossover with Riverdale as Riverdale delved into the supernatural… yet still avoided zombies.
- Aguirre-Sacasa and Riverdale’s production studios, Greg Berlanti‘s Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, are all reuniting for the Afterlife with Archie series, with Aguirre-Sacasa again writing. Deadline notes that Afterlife with Archie has a script-to-series commitment, meaning it’s bypassing the usual pilot stage and jumping into developing an entire full season.
- Per Deadline, Aguirre-Sacasa and Jimmy Gibbons are executive producing Afterlife with Archie via Aguirre-Sacasa’s Muckle Man Productions, while Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman executive produce for Berlanti Productions and Jon Goldwater executive produces via Archie Comics Studios.
- Besides moving into horror stories, the Archie comics have also tackled some wild, unexpected crossovers through the years, with Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and their pals encountering everyone from The Punisher to Jay & Silent Bob. But one especially notable crossover are the two Archie vs. Predator miniseries. And look, it would likely take far too many legal hurdles to overcome between Archie Comics, Warner Bros. and Disney, but given Disney does own Predator and we’re now getting our first Archie project produced for Disney distribution… I’m just saying, now that we’re gonna see Archie fight zombies on TV, who wouldn’t want to see him take on the Predator in live-action eventually!? (not shockingly, things go badly for a lot of Riverdale residents in that comic…)
More Disney+:
Laughing Place recommends MouseFanTravel.com for all your Disney travel planning
Fill out the form below for a free, no obligation quote from MouseFanTravel.com