ZOMBIELANDS

THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE LOOMS LARGE IN THE RESIDENT EVIL TV SERIES

- BRYAN CAIRNS

AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT, billions of zombies could chomp, gnaw, claw or feast on humanity’s remaining survivors in Netflix’s TV series of Resident Evil. Reimagining the popular Capcom videogame and movie franchise, the live-action show unfolds in both the past and the present day, chronicling the development of the T-virus right up until the zombie mayhem hits the fan.

Considering all the RE material out there, including anime adaptations and comic books, showrunner Andrew Dabb admits the greatest challenge in fleshing out the concept was providing a “fresh point of view” that engaged older fans, while catering to newer audiences unfamiliar with the property.

“That’s what the game does so well,” Dabb tells SFX. “The Resident Evil franchise reinvents itself in the videogame. If you look from game one to the recent Village, it’s a very different type of game. They’ve been horror. They’ve been action. They’ve been first-person shooters. Now, they are kind of a horror-action combo. So, for us, it was not necessarily about reinventing the wheel. It was about taking the wheel and driving on a new road.”

ARC LIFE

Resident Evil’s narrative splits between dual timelines. In 2022, teenage sisters Billie (Siena Agudong) and Jade (Tamara Smart), along with their father, Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick), relocate to New Raccoon City. It’s here that the Umbrella Corporation employs Albert. It’s also the year an unleashed T-virus ignites a global zombie apocalypse. Flash forward to 2036 in London, where an adult Jade (Ella Balinska) strives to stay alive in a world occupied by ghoulish creatures.