Resident Evil trailer gives first look at Netflix’s unsettling remix of a video game classic

This is Resident Evil, just not as you know it. Netflix’s upcoming zombie thriller series, set for July 14, includes all the key elements of the hit video game franchise – Umbrella, Wesker (played by John Wick’s Lance Reddick) and zombie dogs – but is underpinned by an intriguing new twist on the classic formula.

As the first teaser trailer shows, the Resident Evil series is divided into dual timelines. In the first – at New Raccoon City in 2022 – Wesker welcomes his daughters Jade (Ella Balinska) and Billie into the fold at Umbrella.

Backed by the haunting soundtrack of The New Seekers’ 'I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing', we see a company that is all sunshine and smiles on the outside but, as we discover through Wesker’s experiments, there’s something dark and dangerous lurking underneath.

But that’s only half the story. Jade is also present in London, 2036. It’s here where Resident Evil fans will get their zombie kicks as legions of the undead swarm and the fight for survival seemingly begins. The show isn’t skimping on the buckets of blood and body horror, either, with gore aplenty in the smattering of scenes we’ve glimpsed so far.

The logline also teases more of the show’s driving forces. It reads, "14 years after a deadly virus caused a global apocalypse, Jade Wesker fights for survival in a world overrun by the blood-thirsty infected and insane creatures. In this absolute carnage, Jade is haunted by her past in New Raccoon City, by her father’s chilling connections to the Umbrella Corporation but mostly by what happened to her sister, Billie."

So far, so promising. Instead of a Resi retread, showrunner Andrew Dabb, previously a writer on Supernatural, looks set to bring a fresh new take on the series to our screens this summer.  

For more from Resident Evil, check out our interview with showrunner Andrew Dabb. And why not check out the best Netflix shows you should be watching right now?