It's finally happening, Resident Evil fans! After experiencing an up-and-down film franchise that didn't always feel like it remembered its source material, audiences will now be getting a new live-action Resident Evil TV series from Supernatural showrunner Andrew Dabb. Since it's happening at Netflix, we can probably expect the show to get a decent-sized budget, though with the caveat that the show might not have as many seasons as it did movie or video game sequels. But on the undeniably bright side, we already know what the new show will be about!
In the first place, Resident Evil's Netflix series will be set across two different timelines, meaning it should hopefully be able to invoke different eras of the game cycle, as well as the franchise's interconnectivity. The first timeline will center on 14-year-old sisters Jade and Billie Wesker (!!!), whose family makes the unfortunate decision to move to Raccoon City right when the girls are hitting important stages of maturity. I'm guessing they'll have to commit some heinous acts that they'll never forget for the rest of their lives, while also dealing with daddy issues.
The longer that Jade and Billie Wesker hang around Raccoon City, the more they come to realize that the town's corporate standing is hiding much larger, and much darker, secrets that will cause some damage of they come to light. And not just for the town, of course, but for the entire world! Cue the lightning and thunder!
That storyline makes up the pre-apocalypse, while the second timeline contends with what happens after everything goes to shit. Taking place 16 years or so after the Wesker siblings' move to Raccoon City, this latter-day narrative is set on a ravaged Earth where there are fewer than 15 million people left. However, there are over six billion monsters roaming the landscape, with both people and animals (and likely plantlife) being infected by the dreaded T-virus.
This timeline will stay connected with Jade Wesker, who is obviously older now and has to struggle on the daily in order to stay alive. It's not just the monsters making life hell for Jade, either, as she's also haunted by the memory of her teenage years, and the show will uncover secrets from her past that presumably tie into some traumatic events that went down with her sister and her father.
With Supernatural's current-day showrunner behind things, you just know Resident Evil's TV show is going to have a deep and twisted mythology. Especially since these characters are almost definitely the daughters of the video game series' Albert Wesker, who was the sadistic and non-sympathetic captain of the STARS police unit that was a core element of the story for many years. I cannot wait to see who plays that role in live-action.
Check out the announcement message from Netflix below.
With Constantin Films as the studio, the Resident Evil TV show is tapped for an eight-episode first season, which should be enough time for the show to scare the shit out of viewers without getting bogged down by excess fluff. The first two episodes will be directed and executive produced by Bronwen Hughes (The Walking Dead).
Below is the statement from new showrunner Andrew Dabb:
Resident Evil is my favorite game of all time. I'm incredibly excited to tell a new chapter in this amazing story and bring the first ever Resident Evil series to Netflix members around the world. For every type of Resident Evil fan, including those joining us for the first time, the series will be complete with a lot of old friends, and some things (bloodthirsty, insane things) people have never seen before.
Rumors surfaced earlier this year that Netflix was looking into creating a live-action version of Resident Evil, with a pretty vague logline coming out at the time. As excited as we were then just for a whisper of a possibility, we're even more pumped to know that it's definitely happening now, and hopefully we'll get to hear some A+ casting news in the near future.
Resident Evil doesn't yet have a production schedule locked down, but expect for the show to kick into high gear at some point in 2021. (After Andrew Dabb finishes up with Supernatural for sure.) While waiting for updates, head to our Netflix 2020 premiere schedule and our Fall TV 2020 rundown to see all the shows coming to the small screen soon.
