While the games are beloved, movie and TV show adaptations of the Resident Evil franchise keep failing – yet it shouldn't be that hard to get right. The Resident Evil game series has covered all kinds of genres, stories, tones, and ideas, meaning that there are plenty of ways a great adaptation could go. However, the recent failures of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City and Netflix's Resident Evil have proven that, for some reason, the studios just can't get it right.
The first Resident Evil game was released in 1996, and with its consistent releases since then the series has proven itself as a staple of horror franchises. Because of this, the series has been adapted multiple times - but it has almost never worked. Six live-action Resident Evil movies were released from 2002 to 2016, and while most of them were commercial successes, they were critically panned and are almost unrecognizable compared to the games. The adaptations have kept coming since then, with multiple new live-action and animated movies, TV shows, and even a stage play coming out over the years, but none of them have recaptured the magic of the Resident Evil games. The game series has been going through a bit of a renaissance recently, with Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 8 being some of the best in the series, causing even more film and TV adaptations to release - but they're still not any good.
2021's Welcome to Raccoon City and 2022's Netflix show are two recent high-profile examples of Resident Evil adaptations, but they just didn't work. Netflix canceled their Resident Evil series after only one season, and while the cast of Welcome to Raccoon City hasn't ruled out a sequel, it's probably not happening. While the animated series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness was enjoyed by viewers a little more than the other adaptations, it still wasn't the Resident Evil show fans wanted. Some have even claimed that these failures have proven that the Resident Evil series is unadaptable, and not only is that untrue, but the way to adapt it is actually pretty simple. Not only could the movie and TV adaptations better draw on the games' popular stories, but they could also do a better job of recreating the series' tone. These two failures explain why Resident Evil continues to struggle on the small and big screen.
Why New Resident Evil Movies & Shows Have Failed
Every Resident Evil adaptation has failed for similar reasons. One of the big flaws in these films is that they have tried to appeal to a broader audience at the expense of what fans love about the games. Most of the Resident Evil movies and shows have taken inspiration from the first six games, and those games have an incredibly unique tone. The Resident Evil games have always taken their stories incredibly seriously, but these plots have been mixed in with horror B-movie camp. From punching the boulder to the famous "Jill sandwich" line, Resident Evil has always been incredibly silly, and the campiness combined with the intense gore is what makes Resident Evil unique. Sadly, the Resident Evil adaptations have never recaptured this tone, with the early movies focusing too much on being cool and the later adaptations being filled with Marvel-tier comedy.
Another big reason the adaptations have failed is that their original stories just aren't as good as the stories from the games. Resident Evil's characters are iconic and beloved, like Leon, Chris, Jill, Ethan, and more, but the movies and TV shows keep creating less-interesting original characters. Welcome to Raccoon City had some of these characters, but they were nothing like their game counterparts. The stories also tend to focus too much on the lore of the villainous Umbrella Corporation, and while this is interesting, it isn't the core of the video game stories. The games are essentially underdog stories, with most of the games starring average Joes who happen to get wrapped up in monster madness. For example, Leon grounds the player in the grand scope of Resident Evil 2 - and the movies and shows don't have a character like that. The reason that the Resident Evil adaptations have failed is that they change what makes the games great - but there's an easy way to fix it.
What Needs To Happen To Get A Resident Evil Reboot Right
It would be very difficult to make a blockbuster Resident Evil reboot that maintained the campiness and seriousness of the games. While fans would love this, general audiences may have trouble getting invested in a niche tone. At this point, the Resident Evil adaptations haven't done well anyway, so future projects arguably might as well make the fans happy. However, there is a way they could make a Resident Evil adaptation that is both faithful to the games and has wide appeal: adapt the story from Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 8.
The first two games in the new trilogy are a change of pace from the other mainline Resident Evil games, as they lose the campiness but keep the seriousness. Both of these games tell deep stories, have great action, feature marketable characters, stay completely serious, and are terrifying. The first six games were never all that scary, but Resident Evil 7 has some moments of true fear - just the kind that a Resident Evil adaptation needs. An adaptation of Resident Evil 7 and 8 could work incredibly well if it just used a similar story and characters, as it doesn't have the campy tone, making it stand out from the other Resident Evil movies and shows. Resident Evil adaptations have tried to change too much about the games, but if they just did a straight adaptation of the source material, it would succeed.