The Resident Evil franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2021 and it’s set to be the biggest year to date for fans. In pride of place will be the release of Resident Evil 8 (aka Resident Evil Village) on next-gen consoles, but we’re also getting a Netflix show about New Raccoon City and Albert Wesker’s children, updates on the big screen reboot of the franchise, news about future remakes of classic games and – just announced – the awesome Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.
The episodic CG show will star Resident Evil 2 heroes Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield as they unearth secrets from the series’ past while tangling with undead horrors and all manner of disgusting Bio Organic Weapons. The story is in canon with the games, too, which makes it required watching for anyone caught up in Resident Evil’s tangled web of evil pharmaceutical companies, flamboyant villains and tense-but-fun action.
Along with the announcement and a cool-looking trailer, we also got a bunch of amazing stills and production art, which you can see for yourself down below.
Some of these photos look like they could be from one of the games, with the shots of Claire discovering a man who’s blown his head off and Leon exploring a spooky institution very reminiscent of The Last of Us. You might argue this is a hint that Infinite Darkness might be better as a video game, but it at least shows that it’s maintaining the aesthetic and mood we all know and love.
Fans of Leon will also be pleased to see him more stylish here than ever before here. Gone is the dewy-eyed new recruit of the Resident Evil 2 remake, replaced by a suit-wearing, pistol-wielding badass who looks like a protégé of John Wick. Beyond that, the zombie concept art is a great indication that they’re not toning down the blood n’ guts in the enemies.
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness appears to be quite far into development, so let’s hope it lands early in 2021.
