After the release of Resident Evil 3 Remake, Capcom developers confirmed that the origins of the Nemesis' creation have a direct connection to Las Plagas parasites in the lore, just weeks before the release of the Resident Evil 8 trailer. Specifically, this comprises the Nemesis' parasite, which Umbrella used to transform a Tyrant monster into the Nemesis.
While fans do not yet know precisely if or how Resident Evil 8 could connect itself to Resident Evil's previous story arcs, including the T-Virus and Las Plagas parasites, the trailer makes it pretty clear Resident Evil 8 takes place somewhere in Europe, perhaps the Caucasus, where Umbrella had a facility, eastern Europe, or France, the latter of which Umbrella had another facility.
Umbrella Europe
While Umbrella's American facilities were concerned with creating bio-weapons which could put out massive amounts of damage or chaos, Umbrella's European facilities were focused on bio-weapon development that preserves high intelligence in its subjects, which is why the Nemesis' parasite was created there and shipped over to US.
Since Capcom has confirmed the Nemesis Parasite—better known as the Nemesis Alpha or NE-α Type—was biologically engineered using the Las Plagas parasites as its base model, it can be deduced that Umbrella had known about the Las Plagas parasites at least as far back as the late-1980s. This is the time period when Umbrella tested the NE-α Type on its first test subject, Lisa Trevor. This is also long before the events of Resident Evil 4, when fans previously assumed Umbrella had no idea nor any connection to the Las Plagas parasites' existence.
Given the village in Resident Evil 8 looks very old and the Umbrella emblem in the trailer suggests the corporation has long held some sort of dark presence in this village, there should be some speculation that Resident Evil 8 will provide fans more insight into Umbrella's activities in Europe throughout the Resident Evil timeline. Given that the Nemesis Project became one of Umbrella's central focal points for research in the late 1990's in order to complete the Tyrant Project, a Resident Evil game set in Europe with historical tie-ins to Umbrella should provide some insight into Umbrella's biggest project before their collapse.
The Mold - A Link?
The weak-link in this theory is Resident Evil 7's autonomy from the rest of the series' story arcs thus far, as it introduces a new Mold fungus which takes over hosts to become puppets to a leader, in this case Eveline. But the Mold itself is also mysterious in its origins, which leaves Capcom to easily fill in the blanks and perhaps connect it to the T-Virus or Las Plagas story arcs, both of which are already becoming interconnected in the lore, thanks to changes in the Nemesis storyline.
If Resident Evil 8 creates an origin story for the Mold which can connect it to the T-Virus or Las Plagas parasites, or both, then the entire Resident Evil series can complete a full circle finally. And while there is not any hard evidence, yet, to determine which type of infections will plague Resident Evil 8's village just yet, there are some interesting aesthetics which certainly look reminiscent of Las Plagas-based experiments.
There is a symbol shown in the Resident Evil 8 trailer with some sort of creature inside a circular emblem with four crow's wings decorating it. The creature strongly resembles a human fetus in the early developmental stage, and what looks to be a strange surgical scar on its head. The round emblem appears to look like an embryo it is inside of. Given the fact that the Nemesis Parasite has to be surgically implanted into the Tyrant's brain, and experiments focused on brain functions are the focal point of Umbrella's European facilities, there may be some relevant clues into the origins of the Nemesis Project in Resident Evil 8.
Furthermore, there are even rumors of a Nemesis-like monster in Resident Evil 8, which will take the form of some sort of witch who uses swarms of insects at her command.
There is already some evidence in the lore which suggests the Mold from Resident Evil 7 may have a connection to previous story arcs. Firstly, it was developed as a team project with Albert Wesker's H.C.F. paramilitary organization. While the exact role of H.C.F. in creating the Mold is unclear at this point, it would seem to be an obvious guess that the various samples of Umbrella's lab experiments could have contributed, which H.C.F. and Albert Wesker had got their hands on over the years.
Additional RE8 Rumors
Additionally, Alex Wesker is rumored to be returning as an antagonist in Resident Evil 8, and even more recent rumors suggest Resident Evil 8 will explain the background of the mysterious organization that created the Mold, known as The Connections. If this insight includes H.C.F.'s role in the matter, then there is a strong chance the Mold's origin story can be connected to previous story arcs, especially given that Umbrella's presence is all but confirmed in the village of Resident Evil 8's setting.
Resident Evil 8 could also answer long-standing questions about why the Nemesis Project was quickly abandoned in Europe after the events in Resident Evil 3 Remake, given that other projects continued. Given that the Mold was created shortly after the Raccoon City disaster in the timeline, perhaps Umbrella saw it as a superior replacement, or even an evolution of the Nemesis Project, if such a link is written into the lore later on.
Whatever transpires from further revelations from Capcom, Resident Evil 8 will certainly keep fans talking and theorizing. At the very least, Resident Evil 8 should hopefully provide a strong insight into Umbrella's activities in Europe over the years, and hopefully it ties the series into past titles conveniently. Resident Evil 7 presented more questions than answers in the end, but hopefully Resident Evil 8 answers these questions and provides more insight into the Nemesis Project.
Resident Evil 8: Village is in development and set to release on the PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.