In the 2000s, Resident Evil was in everything, from video games to Hollywood. These days, the survival-horror franchise remains just as relevant, at least in the video game industry. Unfortunately, last year's attempt at a live-action adaptation, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, failed to make an impact, but Netflix is hoping to change that with the Lance Reddick-led series, Resident Evil.
Netflix first confirmed the series back in 2020 before teasing more of it last year, including a trailer featuring the franchise's iconic zombie dogs. Now, we finally have a release date for Resident Evil.
According to the Resident Evil synopsis (via Polygon), the series will follow two different timelines. The first one will be set before the zombie apocalypse happened when 14-year-old siblings Jade and Billie Wesker realize that something is wrong in New Raccoon City. Meanwhile, the second timeline, 2036, will see Jade Wesker all grown-up, right in the middle of an apocalypse as she fights for her life while battling her past, in particular, her father's connections to the pharmaceutical corporation behind the global pandemic, Umbrella.
Lance Reddick is easily the biggest draw of the upcoming live-action adaptation. No offense to Ella Balinska, Tamara Smart, Siena Agudong, Adeline Rudolph, and Paola Nuñez, but very few actors can command the screen quite like Reddick. After appearing in several video games as well as starring in The Wire, Fringe, and the John Wick movies, Reddick will be taking the center stage as the iconic villain. It will be interesting to see how his take on the sunglasses-wearing psychopath will differ from what we've seen in the video games so far and on the big screen.
Netflix nor Capcom hasn't confirmed if the live-action film is part of the Resident Evil canon. Therefore, it's better to err on the side of caution and believe that it will be set in a different universe from the anime series, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, which debuted last year, and the live-action movie, Welcome to Raccoon City.
The latter wasn't particularly good nor noteworthy, so we're hoping that Netflix will change the narrative on July 14.
Speaking of Resident Evil, Capcom recently announced remasters of Resident Evil 2, 3, and 7, for the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. The announcement comes on the heels of rumors that Capcom is working on Resident Evil - CODE: Veronica and Resident Evil Outbreak remasters. Speaking of, Resident Evil grapevine talk isn't complete with speculations of a remake of 2005's Resident Evil 4.
