Netflix Releases New Look At Resident Evil Series
Netflix is coming out with a Resident Evil series and we got a chance to get a first look at what this could be all about for the franchise
This article is more than 2 years old
Fans of Capcom’s survival horror series needn’t wait another month to see Leon Kennedy in action. Netflix was gracious enough to provide audiences with high-definition screenshots of Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness ahead of release. Check them out below:
Leon Kennedy was a United States Strategic Command (US-STRATCOM) agent in 2006 when the events of Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness take place, specializing in government containment of known Bio Organic Weapons (BOWs). The Umbrella Corporation started weaponizing strains in 1968 for military use, but the resulting BOWs were too volatile for fieldwork. The project lapsed, until 1998 when the t-Virus got out.
The strain infected Umbrella facilities, creating mutants like Resident Evil 7’s Eveline, and spread like wildfire through Raccoon City’s water supply. Over 100,000 people turned into zombies, leading to what is now known as the Raccoon City Destruction Incident. Leon Kennedy was among the outbreak’s survivors. The U.S. army cut Umbrella loose; since then, the company has been trading exclusively on the black market, pandering to crime syndicates and terrorist groups.
This leads us to Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness. Set between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, the Netflix series kicks off with a military campaign with the goal of eliminating Penamstan’s local militia. Given the U.S. army’s mid-2000s relationship with Umbrella, the civilian paramilitary is presumably a terrorist group in league with executives. It’s up to the soldiers to keep whatever virus Umbrella sold Penamstan from infecting innocents and creating new Bio Organic Weapons.
With these Resident Evil BOWs involved, Leon Kennedy is promptly called in to sort out the mess. Claire Redfield, who also features in the show, isn’t an operative, but is equally experienced, having had unfortunate run-ins with Umbrella’s zombies in the past. She was also a Raccoon City Viral Outbreak survivor, alongside Kennedy. Plus, her brother is Chris Redfield, a renowned Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) agent.
The screenshots show Leon Kennedy in various moments of distress. One has him wearing a suit, presumably while meeting contacts in the White House in the first act of Netflix’s Infinite Darkness. Another features the former police officer surveying a packed control room. Kennedy is surrounded by screens monitoring the situation outside. A third depicts the future Division of Security Operations (DSA) agent in a pinch, pointing a loaded pistol at a towering creature in front of him. The last screenshot has both Kennedy and Claire Redfield facing a common enemy.
The photo is bathed in green light, assumably from the glowing tanks in the background. The cisterns contain humanoid figures that could only be dormant mutants in a secret lab. The animation is an impressive step-up from the last Resident Evil CGI movie, Degeneration. Kennedy’s hair and facial stubble are exceedingly more fleshed out, life-like even. The same goes for the texture of the fabric making up his suit, and later his leather jacket. Video game animation is notorious for giving characters abnormally hollow “fish eyes,” but here, Kennedy’s pupils are actually focused, and dare we say have real life in them. The emotion is easily palpable at first glance. This is Leon Kennedy like we’ve never seen him before — in gorgeous 4K.
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness is directed by Eiichirō Hasumi, with Quebico animating and Yugo Kanno handling the score. Dragon’s Dogma and Sengoku Basara’s Hiroyuki Kobayashi is executive producing. The show hits Netflix on July 8.
