Sean Parker
Netflix has released its first looks at a new vision of Raccoon City in their Resident Evil teasers. That’s right, teasers. Plural. And they are providing incredible “Joy.” Last year, fans greeted the animated series Infinite Darkness with lackluster reviews. And while Welcome to Raccoon City staunchly depicted the town from the games (with fantastically precise sets, may I add), the film disappointed many filmgoers by not providing much shock for their scratch. While this initial look into the new eight-episode series looks closer to a 28 Weeks Later scenario, the new direction may breathe life into the franchise.
The series sets itself thirty years after the discovery of the T-Virus, the gene-altering catalyst of zombie mutations, and follows virus creator Albert Wesker’s daughters as they move into the new and improved Raccoon City. This time the Umbrella Corporation has decided to move forward with Wesker’s work by adding small doses of the T-Virus into a new happy pill called “Joy.” The show will oscillate on a flashback mechanic, where the decisions made by the Umbrella executives in 2022 will ultimately result in the city’s fall by 2036, as Jade Wesker searches for answers about what happened to her sister Billie and discovers her father’s disturbing connection to the fate of millions.
Fans of John Wick and Fringe will notice Lance Reddick’s involvement as Albert Wesker, the big bad of the Resident Evil franchise. The cast also features Charlie’s Angels Ella Balinska, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina‘s Adeline Rudolph, The Purge series’ Paola Nuñez, Killing Eve‘s Turlough Convery, and Ahad Raza Mir. Supernatural writer-producer Andrew Dabb is on as the series showrunner who, the press release says, “expands the directions with fresh storytelling, bone-chilling horror, and an action-packed spectacle perfect for summer binging.” Netflix also promises “bad-ass heroines, insane creatures (some new/some familiar), a battle for survival, and of course, a deep mystery to unravel.”
Netflix hid a secret website in the first of their Resident Evil teasers, bringing you to an even more harrowing secret second teaser filled with those “insane creatures” and some satirization of greedy pharmaceutical companies. Both trailers have been provided here, but fans should check out the glitchy site for their own amusement. Hell, there may be even more secrets to find there.
All eight episodes of the Resident Evil series will hit Netflix on July 14th.
