Live-Action “Resident Evil” Series on Netflix is Another Season of “The Walking Dead”?

Looks like the upcoming live-action adaptation of Resident Evil coming to Netflix will be similar to the world getting another season of The Walking Dead. Sigh!

Fans of the long-running Resident Evil game franchise have been looking forward to finally getting the lore adapted by Netflix. While Hollywood gave us a movie series starring Milla Jovovich, it was a far cry from what the fans of the game expected. And now, it looks like history will repeat itself. 

According to what Netflix shared, the new TV series will feature two timelines.

The brief synopsis (via IGN) reads:

In the first timeline, fourteen-year-old sisters Jade and Billie Wesker are moved to New Raccoon City. A manufactured, corporate town, forced on them right as adolescence is in full swing. But the more time they spend there, the more they come to realize that the town is more than it seems and their father may be concealing dark secrets. Secrets that could destroy the world. Cut to the second timeline, well over a decade into the future: there are less than fifteen million people left on Earth. And more than six billion monsters — people and animals infected with the T-virus. Jade, now thirty, struggles to survive in this New World, while the secrets from her past – about her sister, her father, and herself – continue to haunt her.

Talk about completely missing the mark!

One of the best things about the Resident Evil game franchise is that it’s about stopping a full-on zombie apocalypse before it even happens. Having the second timeline feature billions of monsters, in my opinion, takes it very close to the Resident Evil film franchise, and we all know how that was received.

What is it with Hollywood being incapable of adapting well-loved franchises as they are? Why do creative teams feel the need to take risks and contort an IP into something very different (and, frankly, more often than not, poorly written content)?

The cast for this project is yet to be announced. The first season will have eight (hour-long) episodes. The showrunner is Andrew Dabb (Supernatural). Bronwen Hughes (The Walking Dead) will direct the first two episodes. Dabb and Hughes will also serve as executive producers.

I mean, The Walking Dead connection keeps strengthening and I don’t like that.

“Resident Evil is my favorite game of all time,” Dabb shared (via IGN). “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.”

One would think that Dabb, who stated he’s a fan of the IP, would have had a better understanding of what fans expect from a Resident Evil live-action series. I’m always a bit iffy when creatives talk about being fans of a franchise. Part of me always wants to go, “Sure, Jan.”

Again, why go the post-apocalypse route? It didn’t work for Netflix’s Daybreak (canceled after one season) even though the original material featured a post-apocalyptic world. I wonder when Hollywood will realize that people are bored with shows treading familiar grounds.

Give us a Resident Evil series that’s limited in scope and focuses on horror-survival.

Of course, I’m willing to forgive everything if this series shows an obviously queer Chris Redfield. Ha!

Anyway, let’s see how this project develops.

Feel free to share your thoughts with us. 

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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