Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is now out and a consensus is building that it’s a love letter to fans. Positive reviews praise director Johannes Roberts for fulfilling his promise of bringing some genuine horror, complete with a plethora of characters, monsters, and references that make the film a treat for fans of Capcom’s franchise. If you’re not a Resident Evil aficionado, though… mileage may vary.
That’s certainly the case for the credits scene, which will delight long-term fans yet alienate anyone who doesn’t know where all this is going.
Spoilers follow.
The scene revolves around the fate of Tom Hopper’s Albert Wesker. Towards the end of the film, he betrays the rest of the characters (a truly shocking twist…) and attempts to secure the virus for himself. It doesn’t work out so well for him.
But, after the credits, we see a body bag that begins to thrash and shake. Wesker emerges from it looking in bad shape, scrabbling feebly across the floor and apparently blind. He finds himself at the feet of none other than Ada Wong. She explains that his ruined eyesight is a side-effect of his resurrection, but to counter that she has a familiar pair of sunglasses for him to wear. When Wesker asks what she wants from him, she just smiles and leaves.
This is likely setting up the virus-powered Super Wesker seen in later games like Resident Evil — CODE: Veronica and Resident Evil 5, who’ll likely be a key player in Umbrella’s own resurrection. Tom Hopper’s take on Wesker is more sympathetic than the mustache-twirling villain from the games, so it’s likely we’ll see some soul-searching from him in future stories, though who knows what the virus will do to his mind.
And as for Ada Wong? Well, the sexy super-spy is renowned for playing both sides, so there’s definitely more to her decision to bring back Wesker than meets the eye. Here’s hoping this does well enough to warrant another trip into the world of survival horror.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is now in theaters.