The Resident Evil franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2021 and it’s shaping to be the biggest year to date for fans. The awesome Resident Evil Village has provided a cool new entry in the mainline series, but we’re also getting shows about New Raccoon City and Albert Wesker’s children, a live-action adaptation of the first two games in the form of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City and Netflix’s CGI Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.
This episodic effort will star Resident Evil 2 heroes Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield in a story set between Resident Evil 4 and 5. The official synopsis says we’ll see the White House targeted by B.O.W.s, which will lead into a tale that unearths secrets from the series’ past. And, of course, along the way there’ll be all manner of undead horrors and gooey biological monstrosities.
Netflix and Capcom have pointed out that this will be in canon with the games, which makes it required watching for anyone caught up in Resident Evil’s tangled web of evil pharmaceutical companies, flamboyant villains and bizarre locations. And now, we have a look at the opening scene (up above), which shows a helicopter crash and soldiers disobeying orders to rescue their comrades.
The quality of the CGI is impressive and the action well shot, but let’s be honest here, there’s absolutely nothing in this clip that says Resident Evil. Presumably, the situation these soldiers are in is more fantastical than it initially appears, but this could be a generic trailer for a Call of Duty or Battlefield game.
Then again, the franchise has appeared in many forms over the years and (despite there being no monsters), this does resemble Chris Redfield’s campaign in Resident Evil 6 (though fans will know that isn’t exactly a good omen). Oh well, I’m sure the tone will shift for the better once Leon and Claire show up.
Fortunately, we don’t have long to wait, as Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness will premiere on Netflix in less than a month, on July 8th.