Archie Comics’ TV Universe Will Live On Through Jake Chang on The CW

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The CW’s had plenty of time letting Riverdale do consistently weird shit for nearly a decade, but it’s all set to come to an end with a final, surely bonkers season later this year. But lest you think that would be the end of the TV universe based on the Archie Comics universe, you’d be mistaken, because there’s another shared universe show on the horizon.

Reported by Deadline, The CW will be developing Jake Chang, a show based on the titular character, a 16-year-old private investigator who operates out of Chinatown. Like most dramas with teen protagonists, Jake will have to balance his PI job with his high school life, all while navigating the various socioeconomic and racial strife around the city with his own personal family strife.Unlike fellow Archie Comics spinoff stars Sabrina and Katy Keene, Jake’s a new brand new character in the Archie Comics universe. He’s set to make his first appearance next month when he crosses paths with Archie mainstays Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge in the “Mystery of the Missing Mermaid” story.Surprisingly, he won’t be set up during the final season of Riverdale, and his show is intended to start off as standalone.

Developing the series is Viet Nguyen and Oanh Ly, both of whom previously worked on Chilling Adventures, with Daniel Dae Kim’s 3AD production company helping bring it into existence with Warner Bros. TV and Archie Studios. In a statement to Deadline, both Nguyen and Ly expressed excitement in getting to “be a part be a part of this new wave of Asian-American content created by and starring Asian-Americans.” With Chang, the two want it to be reminiscent of Fu Chang, a character who, in the universe of the Archie Comics character, served as a PI in Chinatown during the 1940s. There’s no explicit connection between Jake and Fu, but surely that will become clearer as the show builds out its cast and gives a clearer idea of what kind of show it’ll become.

You can meet Jake in World of Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #17 by Tee Franklin, David Gallaher, Dan Parent, Bill Galvan, Bob Smith, Ben Galvan, Glenn Whitmore and Jack Morelli. The comic will release on July 27.

[via CBR]


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