Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City released worldwide at the end of 2021. Five years before, Paul W. S. Anderson rounded out his series with The Final Chapter, closing the book on original character Alice.
Development for Welcome to Raccoon City began in 2017, with James Wan expressing interest in coming aboard as producer. During its global premiere, Welcome to Raccoon City earned substantial praise for unwavering faithfulness to its video game roots, ultimately grossing $41.8 million worldwide. Judging from its success, Roberts’ reboot could be getting the sequel treatment sooner than we thought.
While there has yet to be any official word on a sequel, Welcome to Raccoon City star Tom Hooper has shared some insight as to the potential for a follow-up. The Umbrella Academy alum flexes his acting talent as Albert Wesker, a member of the STARS Alpha Team working as a double agent. Welcome to Raccoon City was set in 1998, and follows a task force of individuals fighting so survive a zombie outbreak in the titular urban environment.
Hooper, who shines as Wesker in Johannes Roberts’ love letter to the first two games in the console series, spoke to ScreenRant regarding the chances of a Welcome to Raccoon City sequel. According to Hooper, Sony Pictures were pleased with the performance of the first film, and wouldn’t be opposed to a continuation.
“What I know is it was very successful in terms of on demand, a lot of people sat at home and watched it, so I think they’re very happy over Constantin and Sony, all the guys who run that show. I certainly hope to go back and play Albert Wesker again, it ended in a way that I was like, ‘Oh, I can get used to this guy.’ Also, too, where he’s going, I think he can be very interesting, so I certainly hope so.”
Given that Resident Evil loves its cameos, the mid-credits scene reveals Wesker encountering a mysterious figure who introduces herself as Ada Wong. As any self-respecting fan knows, Ada Wong is a prominent character in the franchise who can often be found as either an ally or enemy of the heroes.
Given that Resident Evil has tallied eight video games in its mainstream series (discounting the spin-offs and side stories), there is still plenty more content to be explored in the prospective cinematic universe. Hopefully, Welcome to Raccoon City gets its well-deserved sequel.
