Escape From New York Sequel Announced: What Fans Need to Know

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Published Jun 17, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT

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In 1981, John Carpenter introduced one of cinema's most essential and definitive anti-heroes in Snake Plissken, the lead of his cult favorite dystopian sci-fi flick, Escape from New York. Fans will follow Kurt Russell's eye-patched outlaw anywhere, and they will soon be able to see him in action again in a new comic.

Snake Plissken returns in Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago, an upcoming comic book series from Mad Cave Studios. There is still plenty more of the war-torn United States where Escape From New York is set for the hardened veteran-turned-criminal to explore, such as the Midwest. That is just where Snake is set to slither into next, according to the official synopsis for Escape from Chicago.

The story is said to be a continuation of the events of the blockbuster hit that started it all, in which Snake is sentenced to the maximum security penal colony that was once Manhattan. However, he receives the chance for a pardon when he is asked to rescue the President of the United States (played by Carpenter's Halloween star Donald Pleasence) after Air Force One crash-lands in the prison. The official synopsis teases yet another adventure for Snake to embark on as he takes on the Second City.

"Once you go in, you don't come out—unless your name is Snake Plissken! Plissken now survives as a coyote, smuggling people and contraband across the dangerous dead zones between prison territories like Chicago. It's a hard and bitter job. But when he's hired to extract a woman wanted by the city's warlord, Snake sees one more chance at redemption—or one more chance for the universe to kick his ass."

The creators of Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago are self-described fans of the original film. Writer Kyle Higgins, also known for penning Power Rangers comics for Boom! Studios, is quoted as calling it, "one of the films that taught me what genre storytelling could be—lean, mean, and built on a world you can't stop thinking about."

The comic is illustrated by Val Rodrigues, who is already a staple of Mad Cave Studios with his work on the likes of Dick Tracy and Dark Pyramid. The Brazilian artist promises that "readers can expect the excitement of a Carpenter-style movie, with a distinctively absurd ’80s action skillfully adapted to the comics medium."

The Escape From New York Franchise Is Also Returning To The Big Screen

Even before the announcement of Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago, 2026 was already shaping up to be the biggest year for the franchise in a long time. The reason being: it saw a remake of the original film receive the green light.

It was in mid-April at CinemaCon when StudioCanal unveiled its plans to deliver a reboot of Escape From New York. The following June, it was confirmed that Zack Snyder of 2004's Dawn of the Dead and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice fame would be assuming the duty of writing and directing.

The first time Snake Plissken returned to the big screen, once again played to perfection by Kurt Russell, was in Escape From L.A. John Carpenter's 1996 sequel sees the one-man army once again commissioned by the government for a deadly assignment, this time in the ruined City of Angels.

Soon after, Snake became a comic book star, first appearing in Marvel's 1997 one-shot The Adventures of Snake Plissken and returning six years later in CrossGen and Hurricane Entertainment's four-part limited series, John Carpenter's Snake Plissken Chronicles. In 2014, Boom! Studios began publishing an ongoing comic named after and taking place directly after the events of Escape From New York, which eventually led to a crossover event featuring another iconic Russell character, Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China.

Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago hits the shelves on Sept. 23, with a final order cutoff of Aug. 24.