With the success of The Witcher on Netflix, it’s not hard to see why the streaming service would want to tackle another live action adaptation of a video game. Next up is Capcom’s Resident Evil, which Netflix confirmed is becoming an eight episode series. The show will tell a new story set in two timelines, although it’s apparent that it will tie in to the games. It will focus on Jade and Billie Wesker, who despite not being game characters, seem to be related to central antagonist Albert Wesker. Here’s the official description of the show:
In the first timeline, 14-year-old sisters Jade and Billie Wesker are moved to New Raccoon City. A manufactured, corporate town, forced on them right as adolescence is in full swing. But the more time they spend there, the more they come to realize that the town is more than it seems and their father may be concealing dark secrets. Secrets that could destroy the world.
Cut to the second timeline, well over a decade into the future: there are less than fifteen million people left on Earth. And more than six billion monsters — people and animals infected with the T-virus. Jade, now thirty, struggles to survive in this New World, while the secrets from her past — about her sister, her father and herself — continue to haunt her.
Immediately it’s tempting to speculate on a lot of the info here. Are Jade and Bille the daughters of Albert Wesker? Is New Raccoon City a rebuilt version of Raccoon City following its destruction in Resident Evil 3? Will the second timeline take place after the games? And who from the games will show up in the series?
Some of these questions seem to have answers, as the mention of the secrets of Jade and Billie Wesker’s father suggests he’s Albert. If New Raccoon City is built on top of Raccoon City and we follow the old adage that “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” then the first timeline likely takes place during the events of the games, with the second timeline after them (or perhaps set during Resident Evil 8?). Either way, it’s highly likely that at least some characters from the games will show up, especially those connected to Umbrella.
When the Wesker kids move to New Raccoon City, the secrets they uncover might just be the end of everything. Resident Evil, a new live action series based on Capcom’s legendary survival horror franchise, is coming to Netflix. pic.twitter.com/XWh5XYxklD
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) August 27, 2020
According to Polygon, Netflix will produce eight hour-long episodes of Resident Evil. These will be written by Supernatural’s Andrew Dabb and the first two episodes will be directed by Breaking Bad‘s Bronwen Hughes. So far it seems like the show will remain more faithful to the games than the film series, but will still tell an independent story. I imagine the first timeline, with New Raccoon City and Umbrella, will feel more akin to Resident Evil 2 and 3, with the worldwide monster takeover of the second timeline taking pages from Resident Evil 5 and 6. We’ll find out how much it borrows from the show and how much it deviates once we get a trailer.
