Summary

• Resident Evil: Death Island takes place in the larger Resident Evil franchise timeline, coming after the events of previous installments such as Resident Evil: Vendetta and Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.
• The film opens with a flashback to the infamous Raccoon City incident in 1998, setting the stage for the rest of the story, which primarily unfolds in 2015 — 17 years after the first viral outbreak.
• Death Island features key characters like Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield, and Jill Valentine, further placing it within the franchise's timeline and connecting it to previous games and films.

Set in the same universe as Capcom's enduring horror video games, Resident Evil franchise's timeline has only gotten more convoluted with each new installment. The first three games in the series all hinge on the Raccoon City incident — a disaster that shapes and situates the rest of the franchise's timeline.

The Umbrella Corporation, an international pharmaceutical company, serves as the series' main antagonistic force. In order to further its research into BOWs and the mutagenic viruses that create them, Umbrella sets up a vast underground facility beneath Raccoon City, and effectively seizes control of the Midwestern borough. While Umbrella's experimental viruses turn plants and animals into death-dealing monsters, they transform humans into zombies. When a viral outbreak — and several other key incidents — occur in, beneath, and around Raccoon City, nearby humans are infected, becoming deadly zombies. Knowing that Resident Evil's Raccoon City incident occurred in late 1998 helps make the rest of the timeline easier to follow.

Resident Evil: Death Island's Timeline Explained

Resident Evil: Death Island opens with a flashback to 1998 — the year of the infamous Raccoon City incident. Set just before said tragedy, the prologue sees Umbrella hiring a private military firm to help with the evacuation of high-ranking officials so that these important figures aren't impacted by the viral outbreak. While most of Unit 6 fails to make it out of Raccoon City alive, two squadron , JJ and Dylan, are able to hold out. When the duo are told to quarantine and kill their infected comrades, the soldiers falter. Soon enough, Dylan is forced to kill an infected JJ, and the film skips ahead to 2015.

While Death Island's opening sequence sets the stage for the rest of the film, the bulk of the story unfolds in 2015 — 17 years after the Raccoon City incident. This means that Death Island happens just after the events of the 2017 film Resident Evil: Vendetta, which is set in 2014. This also means it comes after other key franchise installments, including Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, which is sandwiched between the fourth and fifth Resident Evil games, as well as Resident Evil 5, a 2009-set game that also features key characters like recurring protagonists Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, and serial villain Albert Wesker.

The Biggest Clues To Resident Evil: Death Island's Placement In The Franchise's Timeline

While Death Island makes it clear that the events take place in 2015, several in-movie clues further situate the installment within the franchise's timeline. For starters, Death Island features Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, prominent series characters who meet in the 2014-set Infinite Darkness. A Death Island thread revolves around Jill, Chris' former partner, who wants to take part in an experimental operation. Chris advises against this, citing Jill's time under Albert Wesker's mind control, which has led to ongoing complications. In Resident Evil 5, Chris discovers Jill Valentine isn't dead, just brainwashed by Wesker, confirming that Resident Evil: Death Island takes place after the fifth game.

Resident Evil: Death Island is now streaming on Netflix.