Resident Evil comes to Netflix in a very different form this summer. A new live-action TV series, led by writer-producer Andrew Dabb (Supernatural), reimagines Capcom’s Resident Evil series as an action-packed, time-hopping story of survival and horror, with a dash of family drama and corporate intrigue.
Set both in the current day, in New Raccoon City in South Africa, and in the year 2036, Resident Evil centers on Jade Wesker as she both fights for survival in a world overrun with zombies and reckons with her past — and what has become of her sister, Billie, 14 years after the onset of a zombie apocalypse. Jade and Billie are the daughters of Albert Wesker, played by Lance Reddick in Netflix’s series, who serves at the pleasure of his superiors at the Umbrella Corporation.
As seen in Netflix’s first teaser trailer for the television series, Resident Evil will deliver on the zombie-infested horror of the games, with no shortage of bloody violence, the looming threat of Umbrella, and brief hints of the Resident Evil’s quirkier side.
Resident Evil, an eight-episode season, will premiere globally on Netflix on July 14. Joining Reddick in the series are Ella Balinska, Tamara Smart, Siena Agudong, Adeline Rudolph, and Paola Nuñez.
Update: There’s a second teaser, which shows more of Resident Evil’s story and the non-human zombie threats — Lickers, zombie dogs, and what appears to be a giant Grave Digger Worm — that the Weskers will face in Netflix’s series.