Chris Redfield, a member of Special Tactics And Rescue Service, better known as STARS, who is dispatched to the Spencer Mansion to investigate its ties to the zombie outbreak in the titular Midwestern town. The film will see a number of other Resident Evil game characters including Kaya Scodelario's Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen's Jill Valentine, Tom Hopper's Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia's Leon S. Kennedy, Donal Logue's Raccoon City Police Chief Brian Irons and Neal McDonough's William Birkin.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City brings the film franchise back to a more faithful route of Capcom's game series, adapting the stories of the first two games into one story. Development on the reboot began ahead of the release of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, though wouldn't land in its current iteration until writer/director Johannes Roberts signed on in December 2018, replacing Mortal Kombat's Greg Russo. With Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City gearing up for its release, those a part of the film are already looking to the future.
While chatting exclusively with Screen Rant for the film, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Robbie Amell opened up about the future of his Chris Redfield in potential follow-ups. Amell revealed he would like to see Resident Evil — Code: Veronica adapted next and believes writer/director Roberts' formula for adapting the first two games sets the fourth installment as the best next chapter to continue the character. See what Amell said below:
"I think it should be a nice balance of what this first movie is to the first two games. I think that Johannes did such a great job of finding the places to take some liberties and make some adjustments. He modernized the zombies just a little bit. They're still the zombies from the game, but they're a little bit faster. Cause if you take the zombies from Resident Evil One, it's a little boring, you can run around them with no problem. I think just being a reasonable fan of the games, he took the liberties where it made the most sense. If he continues to do that, then Code Veronica. There's a lot of IP that could be adapted into some really cool stories."
Released on the Dreamcast in 2000, Resident Evil — Code: Veronica marked an evolution in the franchise from the pre-rendered backgrounds of the first games and instead utilizing a real-time 3D environment and dynamic camera. The game received acclaim upon release and is generally considered one of the best of the Resident Evil franchise. With the story of the title taking place three months after the events of Resident Evil 2 and concurrently to Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, it would make sense for the game's events to be adapted for a follow-up to the reboot.
Additionally, with Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City introducing Jill Valentine and adapting the events of the Spencer Mansion incident from the first game, it would make sense that a sequel would bring the story of Resident Evil — Code: Veronica to the screen. Amell's note that Roberts' approach to putting the first two games together for the film would prove a more effective formula for Code: Veronica and Resident Evil 3, with their plots taking place at the same time as each other in comparison to the two-month gap between Resident Evil 1 and 2. Only time will tell what the future may hold for the franchise when Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City hits theaters on November 24.
