The first images from the Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Given that the saga featured practically every major character and explored much of the source material provided by the games, the idea that the latest adaptation of the series will link in somehow is only logical.
Back in the 2010s — when just about every major release was part of a planned shared universe — Resident Evil's own cinematic universe seemed incredibly likely, but only a few short months after The Final Chapter's release, it was announced that the next entry to the series would be a reboot. It has since been announced that Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen, and Tom Hopper will feature as some of the franchise's iconic characters in Welcome to Raccoon City, taking over the roles from stars of the previous films.
On-set images show Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Amell as her brother Chris, Hopper as Albert Wesker, and Avan Jogia as Leon Kennedy. Glimpses of the set suggest an aesthetic departure from the previous movies as well: it appears that Welcome to Raccoon City will more closely follow the tone of the first two Resident Evil games, as opposed to the films that preceded it. This was echoed in comments from the film's director Johannes Roberts, stating that it will make use of the fixed camera angles of the first game. Roberts went on to explain that his film will be a totally separate story, with the focus on horror rather than action.
This will come as refreshing news to many fans, as previous Resident Evil movies became further removed from their horror roots as the series progressed, with the saga leaning heavily toward large action set-pieces rather than tense, slow-burning survival horror. Over a 15 year period, the six-film saga made extensive use of Resident Evil's numerous monsters, characters, and locations, so it makes perfect sense for Welcome to Raccoon City to start over in order to rework those elements into a more faithful adaptation.
While Roberts' insistence that the reboot has nothing to do with the previous franchise doesn't necessarily mean that the two aren't linked at all, taking a different approach to the story and the subject matter will likely make even small nods to earlier films impossible. With claims that he drew inspiration from films such as The Shining, Roberts has made his feelings on Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City's status all too clear — it's an entirely separate entity from the films that came before it.
