Why does Jill Valentine look so young in Resident Evil: Death Island?

The Gamer

had the opportunity to interview the film's writer, Makoto Fukami, about this intriguing subject, seeking to find other reasons - be they in universe or behind the scenes. Here's what she had to say (as translated):

It is in fact true, it's a setup for Jill. She's gotten infected by the virus twice or three times I think, so she is indeed the one that's not aging. It's an official setup by Capcom actually.

In short, Jill's slowed aging is explained as a reinfection of the virus, but it's clear that Capcom's real motive is to keep her youthful looks for future Resident Evil storylines. The T-virus being a convenient deus ex machina to explain anything and everything feels cheap, as it conveniently allows Capcom to manipulate the narrative as they see fit.

This is evident in how characters like Claire Redfield and Rebecca Chambers also appear to have not aged, a fact Fukami explained away as: "We kinda kept it the same thing." It is of course hard to ignore the underlying implications of exactly which characters are affected.

Fans have dubbed it "The Young and Hot Forever Virus", a term that perfectly describes a trend in the entertainment industry where male characters age naturally while female characters hardly age or age at a slower pace.

Surprisingly, both Chris and Leon were infected with this virus, but it seems to have had no effect on their aging. Even in Street Fighter 6, Capcom chose to maintain Chun-Li's appearance as that of her much younger self, despite her age in the game's cannon being 56.

Regardless, fans will be eager to see how Capcom plans to bring Jill Valentine back in future Resident Evil titles. Rumors suggest Resident Evil 9 might arrive in 2025, and if this is true, it makes it the perfect opportunity to reintroduce the beloved character who has been absent from mainline RE games since Resident Evil 5.