The Resident Evil movies are getting a reboot in the form of Welcome to Raccoon City, hitting theaters this year on November 24. Even though the Resident Evil movie reboot release date is mere months away, fans are still waiting on a proper trailer. To whet fans' appetites, some images of the Resident Evil movie reboot have been revealed, proving that the film will be making great pains to be more accurate to the video game series than the previous Resident Evil movies were.
While the Resident Evil movie reboot will be more faithful to the source material than the other Resident Evil movies, that doesn't mean Welcome to Raccoon City won't still be making big changes. It remains to be seen what all changes are going to be made in the movie, but the images have confirmed one change that will make the beginning of the story play out quite differently than it did in the original video games.
In the fresh batch of Resident Evil movie images that were released by IGN, Resident Evil fans are given a look at the Spencer Estate mansion, with a clear view of four characters that are in the mansion. The characters in question are Albert Wesker, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, and, reportedly, Richard Aiken. And this is where it seems the Resident Evil movie reboot will be making a big departure from the source material.
For those who are unfamiliar with Resident Evil lore, Richard Aiken was part of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team. He played a role in Resident Evil Zero, and in Resident Evil 1, is found to be fatally wounded by the giant snake known as Yawn. Richard winds up giving the players a radio which plays a key role in how they eventually make it out of the Spencer mansion with their lives. He certainly is not part of the Alpha team in the games, though it will be interesting to see if he still suffers a similar fate in the movie.
The four S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team members that make it to the mansion in the games are Barry Burton, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker. However, Barry Burton is nowhere to be found in the Resident Evil movie images. Instead the images show Richard Aiken in the mansion, portrayed by Chad Rook. This seems to suggest that the Richard Aiken in the Resident Evil movie reboot won't retain the character's story from the video games, and could effectively be taking Barry's role in the movie, though that's just speculation at this time.
It's always possible that Barry will indeed still be in the movie and play a similar role as he does in the original Resident Evil video game, but that seems unlikely. The possibility can't be ruled out that Barry and Richard's characters have been rolled into one, which isn't something that's super uncommon when something is adapted from one medium to the other.
Again, all of this is speculation at this time based on one of the Resident Evil movie reboot images shown by IGN. It's quite possible that fans won't know much more about Richard's role in the story and if Barry's involved at all until the movie itself comes out on November 24. What fans do know is that the movie will be retelling the stories of the first two Resident Evil games and that some iconic monsters from the franchise will be featured.
The images confirmed previous rumors that tragic Resident Evil monster Lisa Trevor will be featured in the movie reboot, and she should prove to be one of the more disturbing creatures that the characters come across in the film. There will undoubtedly be some other recognizable Resident Evil monsters in the movie, but Lisa Trevor may very well come out of the film as the most memorable and disturbing of the bunch.
These new Resident Evil movie reboot images give fans a little bit more to chew on, but there's still a lot of questions left to be answered. Thankfully, some of those answers should come to light sooner rather than later. With the Resident Evil movie reboot release date right around the corner, one has to imagine that the film will get its first proper trailer soon. Whether or not that trailer answers questions about Richard Aiken's role in the movie compared to how he's portrayed in the video games is unclear, but hopefully it clears the air about some things fans are wondering about when it comes to the Resident Evil movie reboot.
In the meantime, there are plenty of other things for Resident Evil fans to look forward to in the near future besides just the movie. Resident Evil 8 DLC is confirmed to be in development, and rumors persist that a Resident Evil Switch exclusive game is waiting in the wings as well.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City premieres November 24.
Source: IGN