Mark Consuelos Could Return to ‘Riverdale,’ Says Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Apr. 3 2022, Published 1:07 p.m. ET
After five seasons playing Hiram Lodge on Riverdale, Mark Consuelos left the CW teen drama last October, with Hiram leaving a bomb in Archie’s (KJ Apa) house on his way out of the titular town. And Season 6’s midseason premiere on March 20 indicated that we won’t be seeing the character anytime soon. So, why did Mark Consuelos leave Riverdale anyway?
Spoilers from the March 20 episode of Riverdale below!
In that return installment last month, Hiram’s daughter Veronica (Camila Mendes) learns that the hit she ordered was finished and that Hiram had been killed. But is he really dead? We’ve got more info Mark’s Riverdale exit — and his potential return — below.
Mark Consuelos didn’t say why he was leaving ‘Riverdale,’ but he may have wanted more family time.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly about his departure, Mark didn’t specify why he was bouncing. “First and foremost, I would like to thank [showrunner] Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa for this incredible opportunity,” he said. “Never before has playing a character that was so bad, felt so good. Huge thanks to the Riverdale fandom, to the brilliant crew and amazing cast, whom I consider dear friends and family.”
The magazine, however, noted that Mark had posted Instagram captions about missing his family while filming Riverdale in Vancouver, British Columbia. When he’s not on a film or TV shoot, Mark lives in New York City with his wife, Live With Kelly and Ryan co-host Kelly Ripa, whom he married in 1996 after meeting her on the set of All My Children. The couple has three adult children, sons Michael and Joaquin — the former of whom has recurred as a young Hiram on Riverdale — and daughter Lola.
Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa says Hiram is “as dead as anyone on ‘Riverdale’ has ever been” but Mark may return.
In an interview with Deadline about October’s Season 5 finale, Roberto revealed that the writers considered killing off Hiram onscreen, perhaps with Archie and Veronica burying him in wet cement. “In the end, though, our love of Mark Consuelos and our hope that he’ll always be a part of Riverdale won out… by a very narrow margin,” he said.
Following the March 20 episode — and the hitman’s confirmation that Hiram is dead — Roberto told Entertainment Weekly that Hiram is “as dead as anyone on Riverdale has ever been.”
But the showrunner didn’t rule out seeing Mark on the show again: “Even when characters are dead, they come back sometimes in flashbacks or dreams. I’ll say this: Mark Consuelos isn't dead on Riverdale, though Hiram pretty much is.”
Roberto spoke along similar lines with Decider, saying, I do think that there was real truth when we established last season that the only way Veronica’s dance of death with her father could end is with one of them dying. And as much as I love Mark, there was no way it was going to end with Veronica’s death. … Can I say that we’ll never see Mark again? That would make me sad, and that would make, I think, [Camila] sad. But yeah, Hiram’s kinda dead.”
Riverdale airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.
