Mark Consuelos Could Return to ‘Riverdale’ Says Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 6 and Season 7 of Riverdale.

After five seasons playing Hiram Lodge on Riverdale, Mark Consuelos left the CW teen drama in October 2022. Hiram left a bomb in Archie’s (KJ Apa) house on his way out of the titular town. And Season 6’s midseason premiere indicated that we won’t be seeing the character anytime soon. So, why did Mark Consuelos leave Riverdale anyway? Will he be coming back?

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.

In a statement to Entertainment Weekly about his departure, Mark didn’t specify why he was leaving Riverdale. “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 isn't on a film or TV shoot, Mark lives in New York City with his wife, 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.

Kelly is a well-known talk show co-host on ABC. In April 2023, Ryan Seacrest left Live With Kelly and Ryan. Mark took his place and the talk show is now Live With Kelly and Mark.

In an interview with Deadline about the 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 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. He said, “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.”

With the show wrapping up, there's only so much time to revisit our favorite characters. This includes Hiram. Mark seems like he's making a revival of the character to close out the show.

In fact, he made an Instagram post prior to the season, writing, "Grateful to have spent a little time with some old friends." Plus, he gave a nod to the director, Mädchen Amick, calling the episode "beautifully directed."

His wife, Kelly, even commented, "Daddy’s home."

If Hiram's dead, it may come as a surprise that he's back in the show. Riverdale's final season, though, is actually set back in the '50s. So, in that time, Hiram actually wouldn't be dead.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on The CW.