The string of films that star Milla Jovovich—with varying amounts of loyalty to the source material. Netflix has announced that they're looking to do a live-action adaptation, which, at least for the first season, will consist of eight hour-long episodes.
Netflix has a pretty decent track record with video game adaptations, especially since their smash-hit Witcher series currently sits at a very solid 8.6 on IMDb. That being said, fans of games can get pretty picky about these kinds of things, so we'll be weighing the two best-loved games in the franchise to figure out which elements in specific would make the new series a success, both for Netflix and for fans of the franchise.
RE 4: The... Escort Missions
While this is an oft-cited headache for fans of the Resident Evil franchise, Leon S. Kennedy acting as a babysitter for the president's daughter is kind of the lynchpin around which the story of the game revolves. While just doing a play-by-play of the fourth game in the series would be a major misstep for the Netflix adaptation, seeing a close-up character-driven story in the show would be a really nice dynamic to have going on. It needn't be Leon and Ashley, but a close relationship between the main characters sounds perfect.
RE 7: The Focus On Horror
One of the major things that Resident Evil 4 is known for is the drastic shift from survival horror to action, with most of the game being spent killing enemies rather than dreading an encounter with one.
The switch to action was so high on the priority list, in fact, that an earlier version of the game ended up being the first game in the now-classic Devil May Cry series. While Action is fun and all as a genre, it's been done to death in the existing Resident Evil films. The adaptation should rely on scares and suspense to get the blood pumping, not explosions. Resident Evil 7 was a welcome return to that.
RE 4: The Religious Themes
One of the things we haven't really seen much of outside of Resident Evil 4 and 5 is a focus on religious themes. While 5 wasn't incredibly well-received, 4 was, and a contributing factor to that was most likely the fact that Ashley had been abducted by a cult whose had been infected with a parasite, which is a pretty apt parallel to the mindlessness of a zombie horde.
It doesn't have to serve as a significant part of the plot, but playing more with ideas like cults could serve well to add some color and help the Netflix adaptation stand out.
RE 7: The Southern Gothic Vibe
Perhaps one of the most noticeable decisions made in both the art direction and the setting of Resident Evil 7 was the choice to incorporate themes from a powerful yet often forgotten subgenre of horror, Southern Gothic.
Southern Gothic as a genre is characterized by an emphasis on decline and decay, mostly set in the rural south of the United States. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a great example, something RE 7 takes so much influence from they could be set in the same universe.
RE 4: Leon And Ada
Leon S. Kennedy and Ada Wong are maybe some of the most recognizable characters in the Resident Evil universe, so it would only make sense that Netflix would take that into consideration when writing up the story for their show.
Leon and Ada's dynamic could make for a pretty harrowing romance subplot, in addition to providing plenty of possibilities for heart-wrenching betrayals from the wily and charming Ada. Even if they aren't the central focus of the show, which will likely be the case, casting them as ing characters or in cameos would be a great nod to the fans.
RE 7: The Insular Story
Something that made RE 7 stand out from the rest of the series was how narrow the scope of the story being told was. The game didn't even necessarily have to be branded as a Resident Evil game to stand on its own merits, and, honestly, if it weren't for the last chapter of the game and the name of the franchise on the box, it very well could have been a standalone game.
Rather than focusing on the evil and ever-present Umbrella Corp, the Netflix adaptation would do well to focus on a small group of survivors in Raccoon City when the outbreak first begins, just as unaware of what's going on as the viewer.
RE 4: Characters Who Fight Rather Than Run
While it's great that Resident Evil 7 made a very sharp turn towards horror rather than action, horror can sometimes be very difficult to craft, especially when a piece of media is trying to string it out for eight hours worth of show.
Resident Evil 4 is well-known for pretty much revolutionizing third-person shooters, with the introduction of the over-the-shoulder camera and the much more accurate shooting we see the game employ, in addition to the shootouts and boss fights the game tosses out like candy. Maybe the best course of action for the Netflix series would be to bring us action and horror in equal parts.
RE 7: The Creature Effects
The creature effects in Resident Evil 7 are absolutely stunning, perhaps even the best in the series up until this point, which is kind of unfortunate now that we have remakes of both Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. That being said, it's not all bad.
From Jack Baker, whose body is vaporized only for him to rebuild it in a wrong and uncanny way, to his wife, Marguerite, who seems to have been infested with a horde of hostile insects, the game puts forward some incredible character design. To see some practical effects like liquid latex and fake blood rather than CGI would be a real treat.
RE 4: The Unfamiliar Setting
It's truly great to see that Resident Evil 4 made such large departures from the games that preceded it in the franchise reflected in the setting of the game itself. Rather than the other games in the series which take place in the United States, the fourth game in the series takes place in a small village in the Spanish countryside, telling us immediately that Leon is out of his element.
While it would definitely make sense if the first season of the Netflix series took place in Raccoon City, a shift later on to a more remote location would be disorienting and provide a chance to depict some gorgeous scenery.
RE 7: The Evil Dead Influence
One of the main pieces of media that influenced the production of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was the cult-classic-indie-franchise-turned-masterpiece The Evil Dead. The game wears the influence of both this and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on its sleeve, and it couldn't feel fresher for the game.
The gore, the dinginess of the house, and the remote location of the game all come together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. The influence is particularly noticeable in the family dynamic shared between the characters, the possession that seems to take place, and the folksy bone furniture littered throughout the house.
