Disney Plus has officially greenlit an adaptation of the horror comic series Afterlife with Archie, setting a premiere date for Halloween 2027. The series will bring the familiar residents of Riverdale into a zombie apocalypse triggered by a magical mishap.
Warner Bros. Television, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and Greg Berlanti, the executive producers behind the live-action Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series, are returning for this new project. Afterlife with Archie is based on the 2013 comic book series of the same name, co-created by Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Francesco Francavilla.
The original comic, which ran for 10 issues, blended classic Archie characters with intense horror elements, while still exploring teenage relationships and conflicts. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa described the opportunity to adapt the comic into a television series as a "full-circle moment" and a "dream project."
Riverdale, which concluded its seven-season run in 2023, evolved from a grounded teen drama into a more supernatural and genre-bending narrative. Its sixth season notably incorporated witchcraft and crossed over with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, foreshadowing the darker, horror-infused direction the Archie universe could take.
While Aguirre-Sacasa has indicated that further issues of the comic have been written, no new installments have been released recently. Casting for the Afterlife with Archie series has not yet been announced, but the connection to Riverdale may lead to speculation about the return of its cast members.