Chris Redfield's Boulder Punch Is Canon In Netflix's Resident Evil Series
Let's be honest, the Milla Jovovich-led Resident Evil movies weren't exactly great. Still, with laser grids, hammy performances from Ali Larter, and the iconic quote of "you're all going to die down here," they were pretty fun popcorn outings. While Jovovich's Alice was praised as a brand-new creation, the franchise was slammed for its desecration of legacy characters from Capcom's games.
The six-movie franchise can be forgiven for steering away from the plot of the games, but seriously, Wentworth Miller playing Chris Redfield in just one movie? There was the opposite problem with Johannes Roberts' Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, as the 2021 horror was praised as a faithful adaptation of the first two games but was called out for being generally a bit sh*t.
Now, it's over to Supernatural's Andrew Dabb to chart a new era of the Resiverse for Netflix. Much like how the streaming giant's Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness was set in the canon of the games, the franchise's first live-action series is also set in this world. While that's a landmark moment for the Resiverse, it raises some baffling questions.
Boulder Punches And Volcano Wesker Are Now Canon
Click to enlargeThe first trailer for Resident Evil followed the daughters of Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick). Taking place in two timelines of 2022 and 2036, it looks like a trippy adventure that will have plenty of homages to the games. That's just it though, it's not homage to the games if they're actually canon.
Clearing up when Resident Evil takes place, Dabb told TheGamer, "We're trying to be very conscious, and the games are our canon. We did not consciously violate any rules from the games, but at the same time, it’s not a direct adaptation of the games." So yes, that means the Wesker of this story is the very same one we last saw being yeeted into a volcano by Chris Redfield and Sheva in 2009's Resident Evil 5.
Remembering Resident Evil's first timeline takes place in 2022, that means we're picking up with Wesker 13 years after he was seemingly killed. Cause of death... volcano. With us obviously asking what this means, Dabb explained, "There is a very good reason Wesker is back. And it does not come down to the fact that he was wearing lava and rocket launcher-proof clothes." Paul W.S. Anderson's movies used cloning as a clever get out of jail free card with Project Alice, so we guess this is the route we're going down.
So, if monster Wesker from his fiery demise is now legit, it also means an enraged Chris Redfield and his famous boulder-punch scene from RE5 is also canon. The games have come with some truly out-there moments, but now, we know the pint-sized Ramon Salazar from RE4, Village's haunted Angie doll, and even RE2's Tofu Time are all canon. We can't wait to see how this one turns out.
Will We See More Resident Evil Favourites?
Click to enlargeIf you weren't already dying to see Resident Evil, Dabb has teased a few familiar faces from the games will also be making the jump. Already hyping a potential second season, he added, "What were they doing during that time? In some cases we kind of know, if you’ve been following the games, in some cases we have literally no idea. So it created some interesting opportunities for us." The world is quite literally our Resident Evil oyster.
We know Capcom is currently working on Resident Evil 9 to round off the Ethan Winters trilogy. There are hopes that we could see the return of legends like Jill Valentine, and what if that canned arc for Ada Wong gets reintroduced? Dabb's Resident Evil runs alongside last year's Resident Evil Village, so there's plenty of potential that at least some of these names could appear in the Netflix series. If you want to see more of Lady Dimitrescu, Dabb said, "If we want to put a giant vampire lady in Season 2, we can. I’m not saying we’re going to, but it’s an option."
Of course, Netflix isn't just relying on nostalgia to keep things chugging along. Away from New Raccoon City in 2022, we have an adult Jade Wesker in 2036. Assuming things go wrong again (will Umbrella never learn?), she tackles an apocalyptic London. Jade is clearly the MVP here, so here's hoping she's the next Alice and can carry a multi-season order to fill that void left behind by The Walking Dead.
Namely, the potential for some old favourites to stop by for a romp through the apocalypse is sure to be tempting. Chris' arc in Village makes him a prime candidate to crush some rocks in Resident Evil, and we can easily imagine an even more grizzled and bearded version of him appearing in Jade's future timeline. Dabb said we could flashback to some iconic moments from the 26 years of Resident Evil games, and if we don't get to see Chris punch a boulder, we'll be cancelling our Netflix subscription.
