The Riverdale franchise has been resurrected two years after the show's series finale on the CW. Riverdale began as an adaptation of the iconic Archie Comics, which reimagined the classic characters in live-action as they tried to solve the mysteries of their small town. Riverdale spanned seven seasons and spawned two spin-off series in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Katy Keene.
Riverdale eventually came to a close after its cancellation and subsequent Season 7 finale in 2023, but the universe continues to live on. Deadline has confirmed that another series based on the Archie Comics, titled Afterlife With Archie, has been ordered to series by Disney+. The series comes from the same team behind Riverdale, including showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Greg Berlanti's Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros.
The series is based on the Afterlife With Archie comics, which envision the classic town and characters surviving a zombie apocalypse. The story is set in an alternate universe to the main Archie Comics, suggesting the show will do the same. However, the story could remain in the same shared universe, acting as a sequel to Riverdale, particularly as the same creative team is on board.
It's unclear at this stage how intertwined Afterlife With Archie will be with Riverdale, but it seems likely to have a completely different tone and cast from the original series.
The Afterlife With Archie comics (which were also written by Aguirre-Sacasa) spanned ten issues and featured familiar characters like Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica. However, many of Riverdale's cast members have moved on to new projects since the show's finale, meaning they will unlikely reprise their roles in Afterlife With Archie. That being said, if the series ends up being set within the same television universe, some cameos are definitely possible.
Afterlife With Archie will also shift networks from the previous installments, airing on Disney+ rather than the CW or Netflix, as the last series and spin-offs did.
Riverdale Comes Back From the Dead on Disney+
Afterlife With Archie could end up being a major revival of the Riverdale universe, depending on how heavily this series leans on the lore of the previous shows. The comics include Sabrina Spellman as a character who is the primary catalyst for the zombie apocalypse, hinting that this show could be a new start for a massive crossover between the two iconic characters.
Aguirre-Sacase once said he hoped to adapt the Afterlife With Archie comic somehow in the Riverdale universe, suggesting to Entertainment Weekly in 2018 that it serve as the crossover point between Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina:
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa: "Now that we’ve got Sabrina and Riverdale, maybe there’s a standalone [Afterlife With Archie] movie or something that we can do combining both casts."
Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina eventually got their crossover, with Kiernan Shipka's character appearing in a pair of episodes in Riverdale's sixth season.
While the teen drama series leaned heavily into the supernatural in its later seasons, it never went as far as adapting the zombie apocalypse seen in Afterlife With Archie, leaving the comics primed for adaptation in this new series.
