Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie won’t feature any characters from the video games. The Weapons director reveals the reason for their absence.
Zach Cregger explains why his Resident Evil movie has no video game characters
The upcoming Resident Evil film takes place in Raccoon City in 1998. That’s also a key location in the second and third Resident Evil games, but that doesn’t mean its characters will appear in the film.
“To try and shoehorn in any of those characters would feel inorganic to this self-contained story,” Cregger told Empire magazine. “I have to put the story first and foremost.”
The film follows Bray, a medical courier, who winds up in the city on the night of the zombie outbreak. The character, along with the film’s story, is a wholly original creation, devoid of any links to the video games. Unlike Leon S. Kennedy, who won’t be appearing in the film, Bryan is described as an “everyman”.
“Bryan is very much an everyman who happens to be burdened with this kind of sacred mission that’s going to take him into the heart of everything. It’s kind of like Frodo going into Mordor,” added Cregger.
The original Resident Evil films from Paul W. S. Anderson introduced a new story before eventually incorporating characters from the video games. However, their inclusion disappointed fans, as they strayed far from the source material. 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City was an adaptation of the first two games and featured Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, and more. Unfortunately, the film was panned at release, with its sequel also canceled.
“In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos,” reads the official synopsis.
Resident Evil releases in theaters on September 18, 2026.
