Afterlife with Archie Creators Respond to Disney+ Series News
· BCPosted in: Comics, Disney+, TV | Tagged: afterlife with archie
Afterlife with Archie Creators Respond to Disney+ Series News
Here's what Afterlife with Archie creators Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla had to share about the Disney+ series news.
Published Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:37:09 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary
- Disney+ has officially greenlit Afterlife with Archie, the live-action series from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Berlanti.
- Afterlife with Archie co-creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa shared how thrilled and terrified he is to adapt the comic.
- Francesco Francavilla also responded as the Archie Horror favorite moves from comic books to a Disney+ series.
- The zombie tale begins with Hot Dog’s death and Sabrina’s spell, turning Riverdale into a brutal apocalypse.
Only nine months after the news first hit that the project was in development, Disney+ announced this week that Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (the main creative brain behind Riverdale), Greg Berlanti's Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television's live-action series adaptation of Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla's hit "Archie" comic book series, Afterlife with Archie, had been given a green light. Now, we're getting to hear from comic book creators about today's big news.
"To say that I'm thrilled and terrified (in the best way) to be adapting 'Afterlife with Archie,' the comic series I co-created with genius [Francesco Francavilla], would be an understatement. I just friggin' love these characters so damn much," Aguirre-Sacasa wrote to kick off the caption to his Instagram post. "In the years since Riverdale ended, they've NEVER been far from my mind and heart, is the truth. And I'm so incredibly grateful to be doing this dream project this with my steadfast partners-in-crime at Berlanti, my [Warner Bros TV] family, our all-star champions at [Disney+], and (last but certainly not least) true believer Jon Goldwater and the whole gang at [Archie Comics]. This is how the end of the world begins, indeed…🐐🔥👑🧟🐍🔥☠️🐕🩸🍔🥛🍟👫👬🩸☠️☠️☠️" Here's a look at Francavilla's reaction:
First published by Archie Comics (with the "Archie Horror" banner being added with Issue #8) in October 2013, the series would go on to run for two volumes, "Escape From Riverdale" and " Betty: R.I.P.," for a total of ten issues. Without giving away too many details, let's just say that Reggie doesn't win over any fans when he hits and kills Jughead's dog, Hot Dog, with his car. From there, things go from bad to worse when Jughead skips the "Pet Semetary" for a one-on-one with Sabrina for some magical help. The good news? The teenage witch is able to bring Hot Dog back to life. The bad news? Hot Dog did not come back right, as a bitten Jughead quickly learns. From there, things get all sorts of "The Walking Dead" as familiar faces suffer some pretty horrific fates as the survivors head out to find a new place to call home. [ED NOTE: It's pretty great]
Aguirre-Sacasa is serving as showrunner and executive-producing alongside Jimmy Gibbons (via Muckle Man Productions); Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman of Berlanti Productions; and Jon Goldwater of Archie Comics Studios.
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