Netflix’s Resident Evil live-action TV show takes us to New Raccoon City today
Capcom’s survival horror granddaddy of a series Resident Evil is hitting the small screen today, with the arrival of Netflix’s live-action TV adaptation. It’s not spoiling anything to say that Albert Wesker is back, but this time he’s bringing his family along for those bioweapon hijinks he’s known for. It wouldn’t be Resi without some zombie dogs jumping through windows either, as you’ll see in the trailer below.
The Resident Evil show follows twins Jade Wesker (Tamara Smart) and Billie Wesker (Siena Agudong) across two timelines: present-day New Raccoon City and all over post-apocalyptic Earth in 2036. Their dad Albert is being played by the awesome Lance Reddick (as seen in The Wire, Lost and Fringe on telly, Destiny in games), so that’s a plus in my book. He’s long-time series antagonist Albert Wesker, so of course he’s tinkering with Umbrella bioweapons that have something to do with the downfall of the world in the future.
I don’t know what to make of the whole thing. Its showrunner, Supernatural’s Andrew Dabb, has gone on record with Netflix’s winkingly named Tudum site to sell the connections to the Resident Evil games. Interestingly, Dabb insists that the show weaves into the game series rather than the prior movie franchise. He got into the series with Resident Evil 3 as a kid, then went back to play the earlier games, so he’s a fan from back in the day.
“Basically, the year the game worked out, that’s when things happened,” Dabb said. “So for example, this show is set in 2022, which means the events of Resident Evil Village happened a year ago in our [timeline]... Now they haven’t bled into our story yet, but they may down the road. But Raccoon City was blown up in ’98. It fits that chronology.”
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