Fresh chaos ahead: The Purge’s next entry goes to an ‘entirely new place’

Alright, Purge fans, looks like you lot are getting something a bit different in the next chapter of The Purge—and no, I don’t mean another dodgy prequel or a low-rent streaming spin-off. The infamous ‘one night of mayhem’ franchise is now getting the comic book treatment, with some actual changes to the script, if you’ll believe it.

‘What we’re doing is an entirely new place and a new town, new environment than we’ve gotten to see explored in the Purge universe so far.’

That’s from IDW Dark lead editor Heather Antos, chatting with Entertainment Weekly. No, they’re not just rehashing the films in illustrated form—this time, it’s fresh territory. They’re set on giving readers a completely different patch of America to worry about, which, frankly, the films could have done five films ago.

Blumhouse, not content with only scaring cinema crowds, have teamed up with IDW Dark to turn a bunch of their well-known horror hits into comic books. And yes, that slate includes M3GAN and Happy Death Day, in case you wanted a killer doll in paper form. But for us, the main event is The Purge, mostly because you can never quite get enough of people behaving abhorrently with government backing.

Antos went on: ‘They are the bad guys, and they need to remain the bad guys in the story.’

The creative team seem determined to remind everyone that, comic or not, Purge Night is not a jolly knees-up for misunderstood antiheroes—‘the bad guys’ are still very much bad. Apparently, they’re diving into entirely new kinds of Purge participants, digging into their backgrounds and personalities in a way the films can’t really pull off between all the chaos and smash-and-grab plot turns.

Why comics?

The writer, Dan Watters, reckons the comic format is better at exploring what’s going on inside a character’s head—something the films barely touch unless someone’s having a breakdown in a loo. He pointed out one thing about the premise: Purge Night is meant to hit everyone, nationwide, all at once, so there are all kinds of stories and perspectives you can muck about with that never fit into a two-hour film.

‘It’s something that is affecting everyone in the country at the same time, one night a year. There’s so many things to deal with, so many things you have to do.’

So, if you were ever curious what’s happening on Purge Night in a random town nobody in the films ever visited, this is it. The actual plot’s still under wraps—no word yet on who lives, dies, or whether anyone learns anything—but official art and details are being held for the full reveal by IDW Dark later on.

The new Purge comic gives the franchise a completely original town and setting for its next twisted tale.