Netflix’s new show is returning to the world of Resident Evil - but when in the Resident Evil timeline does it actually take place? Based on the new series' initial reveal, there has been some confusion regarding exactly when Netlix's Resident Evil takes place across the franchise's established canon video game timeline. A closer look, however, reveals clues to the answer behind Resident Evil 2022’s mysterious chronology and how it all occurs.
Arriving July 14th on the streaming powerhouse Netflix, the service's fresh Resident Evil reboot looks set to test audiences' investment in the long-running horror franchise. Resident Evil began as Capcom’s seminal 1996 video game before the zombie shoot-em-up series was then adapted to film several times over the past two decades. Resident Evil (2002) saw Alice and the T-virus begin underground with star Milla Jovovich. Soon, the action spilled out onto the streets of Raccoon City and beyond for five Resident Evil sequels - with Resident Evil 2022 the latest installment as audiences return to New Raccoon City.
In an innovative move, the new Netflix Resident Evil series takes place in two separate timelines. Written in a new continuity, the story is split between two narratives that explore the years 2022 and 2036 in a flash-forward to the future. Set over two different timelines, the show begins following its protagonist Jade's arrival in a fictional, futuristic New Raccoon City, set in the present day - before switching to an apocalyptic landscape ravaged by the T-virus in 2036. With the Umbrella Corporation’s terrifying new experiments in-store — including genetically mutated bugs, dogs, monster DNA, and other deadly secrets — this Resident Evil has much more to offer than just its dual timeline.
The initial narrative Resident Evil viewers will become familiar with is New Raccoon City in the year 2022. In fact, this is the year that Resident Evil's deadly T-virus is unleashed on the world, which causes the zombie-induced apocalypse seen later in the Netflix trailer. A young heroine named Jade (Tamara Smart) attempts to survive with her twin sister Billie Wesker (Siena Agudong) in 2022 - as seen in Resident Evil's marketing material. In the aftermath of this new fictional timeline, only 15 million humans remain alongside 6 billion animals - with the majority of humankind infected by the T-virus.
The Netflix series' second timeline story presents the mutant creatures of Resident Evil that infest a grim London of 2036 - 14 years after the original virus broke out. Now an adult at age 30, Jade (now played by Ella Balinska) continues the fight against the hordes of the undead. Resident Evil’s trailer eventually reveals two important enemies from the original video game, namely the Tyrant and Jade and Billie’s father, Dr. Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick), who is alive and working for the evil Umbrella Corporation. Netflix’s explosive new vision of a global zombie infection will be played out in two separate stories within the Resident Evil timeline - but only time will tell who the ultimate winners of this ongoing deadly battle are.