With its succeeding sequels throughout the years, Capcom’s Resident Evil video game genre has grown to become one of the most well-known and lucrative horror-survival game franchises of all time. The success of the video games led to the franchise’s entry into the film business, and over the course of 26 years, 14 consoles and seven films have been released, each of which has added to the overall plot and brand value. One cannot dispute that the Resident Evil series continues to be a crucial choice on any zombie fan’s favourite watch-list, despite the fact that the movies have gradually lost the magic that frightened and delighted fans with the same effectiveness as the games.
Even if the 2021 remake Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City received only average reviews, the huge popularity of the video game Resident Evil 7 (2017) encouraged Netflix to revive the franchise in the world of live-action adaptations. Resident Evil will have eight episodes, each lasting around an hour, and will be officially announced in 2020. The series will have Andrew Dabb (Supernatural) as the showrunner and a co-writer. Production was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic for about eight months, and it could only start in February 2021. Although the Resident Evil storyline on Netflix seems to depart from the one established in the games, it does seem like the upcoming series will have enough to interest everyone. The Season 1 trailer, which was only recently published, gives fans a preview of what to expect from the Netflix adaptation:
https://youtu.be/uIdjcDTc9Vk
The Resident Evil teaser makes it clear that the series will travel to 2022 and 2036, two different eras. The story will be told through the perspective of a new character named Jade Wesker; none of the previous protagonists from the games or movies have yet to feature in the teasers or trailer. The first season will introduce Jade, her twin sister Billie, and her father, Dr. Albert Wesker, whose name may be recognisable to fans of the video game franchise. The Resident Evil trailer features the return of several beloved mutants and monsters, like the Licker and zombie dogs. In her address to the audience, Jade discloses that, according to popular belief, the world did not end in 2036 but rather in 2022. She and a few other human survivors are seen in many images attempting to make their way back to safety, which is eerily evocative of both the games and the movies.
This week marks the Netflix premiere of Resident Evil. Let’s take a look at the cast and their respective characters that will be travelling through the bioengineered hell with the audience in Season 1 of Resident Evil while we wait impatiently for a return to the zombie-infested world and Raccoon City.
Adeline Rudolph as Billie Wesker
Jade’s identical twin sister, Billie Wesker, was born via IVF under mysterious circumstances and was raised by Albert Wesker. Another new character created for the Resident Evil series on Netflix is Billie, who is crucial to the plot by providing inspiration for her sister Jade. Adeline Rudolph, who you might recognise from her role as Agatha Night on Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, plays Billie, the daughter who travels to New Raccoon City with her father and sister. The teaser suggests that Billie experiences something during her time at Umbrella Corporation that causes Jade to cross the line and turn into the cruel zombie killer we see in the movie. Siena Agudong portrays Billie when she was younger.
Connor Gosatti as Simon
When compared in age to the twins Billie and Jade Wesker, Simon, the son of Evelyn Marcus and her wife, resides with his parents in New Raccoon City. Simon, played by Connor Gosatti, is a brilliant student and athlete who attends the same school as Billie and Jade, the Raccoon High School. He is also a new character that has been created for the Netflix adaption and appears to have been friends with Jade in the teaser.
Ella Balinska as Jade Wesker
Ella Balinska will play the newly introduced character of Jade Wesker in the Netflix Resident Evil series. Jade and her twin sister Billie were both conceived via IVF in unexplained circumstances around the year 2008. Albert Wesker, a researcher and executive at The Umbrella Corporation, introduces the two in a highly controlled setting. In both the 2022 and 2036 timelines, as depicted in the trailer, the story is mostly told via Jade’s perspective as she relates the events that took place during the T-spread. virus’s In 2022, Jade travels to New Raccoon City with her father Albert and sister Billie, where Umbrella has established its new headquarters and is currently attempting to clear its name. The nefarious biotech organisation is soon shown to be up to no good, as seen in the teaser, and is to blame for a large virus outbreak that wipes out the bulk of human life on Earth. Tamara Smart performs Jade’s younger self.
English actor Ella Balinska is well recognised for her role in the next Charlie’s Angels film. In the 2036 narrative set in London, Arj—Jade Wesker’s husband—is portrayed by Ahad Raza Mir. Despite the raging zombie apocalypse outside, Arj and Jade are attempting to make things work with their little child. He tries his best to encourage Jade, who is occasionally in need of a pillar of emotional support because of the memories of her past that haunt her.
Lance Reddick as Albert Wesker
Albert Wesker, one of the traitors and main antagonists in multiple games, may be well known to ardent fans of the Resident Evil series. Wesker, who in the video games is portrayed as a tough researcher-turned-spy who acquired superhuman abilities after ingesting a prototype virus, had not yet undergone the surgery and was only restored to his former CEO position at Umbrella in 2022. In the future Resident Evil series, Lance Reddick, who plays Albert Wesker, is revealed to have had some involvement in the genetic research that produced the twins Billie and Jade. There is also evidence that Wesker helped create the t-Virus, which led to the zombie epidemic and reduced humanity to a small portion of what it once was. The precise nature of his motivations is yet unknown.
Paola Nuñez as Evelyn Marcus
Evelyn Marcus is portrayed by Paola Nuez, who you might be familiar with from her work on The Purge, The Son, and the Magnum P.I. remake. Evelyn is the daughter of Dr. James Marcus, one of the original board members of the infamously evil corporation, and will serve as CEO of Umbrella Corporation in 2022. She appeared alongside Albert Wesker in the Resident Evil trailer and is a cutthroat businesswoman who prioritises the company’s profits over all else. She resides in New Raccoon City, adjacent to the headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation, with her husband and their son Simon. Evelyn tried to rehabilitate the company’s reputation after taking over management of Umbrella from her father by putting less emphasis on the creation of bioweapons and more on consumer goods that continued to draw on the findings of the t-Virus Project. In order to treat OCD and other mental health concerns, Umbrella’s R&D division created Joy in 2022. Joy is an experimental medicine that contains the t-Virus.