Riverdale may be coming to an end on The CW, but stories about Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and the rest of the gang are far from over — they’re headed to India. On Saturday, as part of Netflix’s TUDUM virtual event, the streamer released a teaser trailer for The Archies, a new take on Archie comics’ iconic characters and stories, this time set in India. The film is expected to debut later this year. You can check out the teaser trailer for yourself in the video below.
This is how Netflix describes The Archies: “You’ve seen them in comics, in books, and in Riverdale — but this time around, you’ll see them in India! Set in the 60s, The Archies builds a world that’s both familiar and new. Here’s your first look. #Tudum.”
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The Archies is directed by Zoya Akhtar and stars Mihir Ahuja, Dot,, Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Vedang Raina, and Yuraj Menda. It’s not entirely clear from the trailer which actor is playing what character, but the teaser does give the sense that the film will be a musical drama, which lines up with how the streamer described the series in its official synopsis.
“A musical experience bursting with youth, rebellion, friendships, first loves, and everything young adult, it still promises to have something for every generation. The film has the iconic gang of The Archies at the center of it, and perfectly matches the. youthful energy, hope, and excitement of the sixties era.”
“I am super excited to have the chance to bring The Archies to life,” Akhtar said previously. “It was a large part of my childhood and teenage years. The characters are iconic and globally loved, which is also why I am a little nervous. I have to make sure the film stokes the nostalgia of a generation that grew up on the comic and yet resonates with the young adults today.”
The CW’s Riverdale is Ending After Seven Seasons
The CW’s Riverdale is currently airing its seventh and final season on that network, with said final season interestingly enough taking its iconic characters into the past. The seventh season of Riverdale goes where no season of Riverdale has dared to go before-the 1950s! Picking up where last season ended, Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) finds himself trapped in the 1950s. He has no idea how he got there, nor how to get back to the present. His friends are no help, as they are living seemingly authentic lives, similar to their classic Archie Comics counterparts, unaware that they’ve ever been anywhere but the 1950’s.
Why the 1950s was Perfect for Riverdale‘s Final Season
“It is true, though the Archie started publishing much earlier than the 1950s, the decade that most people associate with Archie comics is the 1950s for whatever reason. The Archie comics, they’re so nostalgic, and I think when people think of time periods, they think of the 1950. Through the lens of nostalgia. So that was one big thing,” Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa previously told ComicBook.com. “Absolutely. And even when we’ve done their iconic comic book costumes from the past, even though they were technically the 1940s, whenever anyone would write about it, they’d say, ‘Oh my God, they’re wearing their 1950s outfits.’ So, it was sort of like, ‘Okay, well, that is … ‘And even when we were pitching Riverdale, and this is true, when we were pitching Riverdale to try to do a TV show, the executives would say, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Is this a show set in the ’50s?’ And it’s like, ‘No, no, no, it’s set in present day.’ So, there was that.”
He continued, “The other big thing that felt really resonant is the 1950s were when the modern idea of the teenager was born. Teenagers really didn’t … Teenagers as we know them, and as consumers of popular culture, as consumers of movies and television and comic books and things like that, that really … The birth of the American of the modern American teenager was the 1950s as well. So, it felt like, “Oh, well that’s Archie.” I mean, that is Archie. So, it felt like this is the time period, this is actually the time period. So those were also things that kind of resonated with us and why we landed on this time period. Also later … and the world is roiling later in the ’60s with counterculture, with the civil rights movement, with the sort of a gay liberation movement and things like that. And it felt like in terms of our thematic, which is the wholesome sweet innocent facade, and then the darker, more dangerous, more fraught themes and issues bubbling underneath, it felt like the ’50s sort of suited that to a T.”
The Archies arrives on Netflix later this year.
