In just a matter of years, the world of Archie Comics has gone from a niche part of the industry to a bonafide pop culture phenomenon. Part of this is thanks to The CW‘s Riverdale, which recontextualized many of the publisher’s characters for a modern era. In the years since Riverdale has debuted, several other sister shows have followed, including The CW’s Katy Keene and Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Even with both Katy and Sabrina being canceled earlier this year, a new report indicates that another installment of the “Archieverse” could be in the works. On Wednesday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is developing a reboot of the hit Freeform series Pretty Little Liars. The report also hinted that Aguirre-Sacasa is “prepping another project” based on Archie Comics characters.
This news came with the indication that the Pretty Little Liars reboot will be a step of Aguirre-Sacasa branching out “beyond his frequent collaborations” with TV producer Greg Berlanti, who executive produces Riverdale and did the same with Katy Keene and Sabrina. Given Berlanti’s previous work in the “Archieverse”, it certainly doesn’t seem out of the question that he would be involved with this new show as well.
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Of course, there’s also the question of what exactly this new Archie Comics-inspired project could be, especially given the company’s unique approach to its roster of characters. A number of Archie Comics spinoffs and titles are essentially extensions of the main Archie series, or tie into Archie and his friends in some capacity (look no further than the recent wave of horror comics like Vampironica or Jughead: The Hunger). There are a few Archie-like properties, like Suzie, Ginger, and Li’l Jinx, although it’s anyone’s guess as to what the angle could be to reinterpret those into the modern era. There also are some of the more esoteric, genre-based Archie properties, including Archie Comics’ many superheroes (some of whom have been recontextualized on Riverdale), and other genre titles like Cosmo the Merry Martian and Super Duck.
Either way, this news will certainly delight fans of the Archie Comics roster, especially as Riverdale itself moves into a new era with a significant time jump in its upcoming fifth season.
“We’ve been talking and planning on doing a time jump,” Aguirre-Sacasa explained in an interview earlier this year. “And of course, usually time jumps happen in between seasons, because there’s a tease at the very end. It felt like maybe what we’ll do is start with the last three episodes [intended for Season 4]. So what we’re doing is picking up right where we left off for the first three episodes, and then doing a time jump… after those three episodes.”
What do you think of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa reportedly developing a new “Archieverse” project? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Riverdale is set to return with new episodes in 2021.
