The beating heart of Resident Evil has always been its beloved characters, from the undeniably cool and collected Jill Valentine to the absolute goober that is Ethan Winters. These characters are what have helped the franchise surge in popularity for so long, even while Resident Evil consistently redefines survival horror. Resident Evil’s line of CG films has featured a wealth of fun character moments, and the latest trailer for the new movie, Death Island, shows that’s absolutely going to continue. Even further, it seems like Resident Evil is about to have its “Avengers” moment, with a dream team assembling for Death Island.
If you aren’t up to date with Resident Evil’s film offerings, Death Island is technically the fifth entry. The first, Resident Evil Degeneration, was released in 2008 and saw Leon and Claire reunite for a new zombie outbreak. All of the films are canon to the main series of Resident Evil, typically taking place in between the events of the games and fleshing out what characters like Leon and Chris are up to in between advantures.
Death Island, however, is a bit unique as it’s not just focusing on one or two characters, but bringing back a slew of fan favorites. As the trailer shows, some kind of new viral outbreak is happening on Alcatraz, and this time around it’ll take the combined forces of Leon, Chris, Jill, Claire, and even Rebecca Chambers.
Interestingly, this is the first time Jill and Leon have ever met, even though they were both present for the Raccoon City incident. This is also the first time Claire and Rebecca have ever met, and the first time the Redfield siblings have been seen together since Code: Veronica. Additionally, we haven’t seen Jill in action since she was brainwashed by Wesker in Resident Evil 5.
Needless to say, this is an absolutely major moment in the canon of Resident Evil, and it’s already a joy seeing these characters interact in just a two-minute trailer. You also need both hands to count the number of one-liners spouted off.
In terms of timeline, Death Island takes place sometime after the film Vendetta, which took place in 2014. This means it likely takes place in 2015, a couple of years before we see Chris pop up in Resident Evil 7 (2017). This means, outside of the events in RE7 and Village, this is the furthest we’ve seen events in the series’ timeline.
There’s a lot of speculation about where Resident Evil goes next, whether that’s another remake or a brand-new game. Death Island could provide a bit of insight into where the series’ story at large is going, considering the events involving the Winters family are wrapped up by the end of Village. We know Chris gets wrapped up with Ethan Winters, but we don’t know anything about what the others might be up to during the latest entries.
At the very least, Death Island looks like an absurdly dumb but hilariously fun time, much like the rest of the movies. Where else can you see Leon, Jill, and Chris parkouring over some kind of Kraken tentacle?
