MOVIE NEWS – Netflix’s Resident Evil series may have had its own small fan base, but after the majority pulled it off, let’s see why it got canceled.

The Resident Evil horror video game franchise is said to be one of the most popular game series of all time, having been around since 1996 and holding the Guinness World Record for the “most live-action film adaptations of a video game.” It consists of eight mainline games, comics, plays, animated films and TV shows, seven live-action films, and numerous spin-offs, but despite the many adaptations, none have reached the heights of the Resident Evil games. However, when Netflix’s Resident Evil series was announced, fans hoped it would be different and a realistic and accurate adaptation, especially after the failed four-part animated series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness that Netflix released last year.

The series only adapts aspects of several games in the Resident Evil franchise, but tells an original story centered around new characters. The series, set in its own universe and jumping between New Raccoon City in 2022 and a virus-ravaged world in 2036, stars Lance Reddick as the evil Albert Wester, and Ella Balinska and Adeline Rudolph as Wesker’s children, Jade and Billie. The story focuses on their strained relationship with their father after they discover some dark secrets behind the origins of the Umbrella Company, of which he is one of the leaders.

The deadly epidemic

Following the outbreak of the T-Virus virus, we are transported to the year 2036, where human civilization has been reduced to 300 million and the refugees live in isolated walled city-states surrounded by six billion bloodthirsty infected people called Zeros who have contracted the virus. Events tore the family apart, with Jade fleeing to Europe to become Zero’s biology expert and try to save the world. Billie staying with the Corporation and eventually launching a global manhunt for her sister, who she actually believes is dead.

Netflix’s Resident Evil series was supposed to be their latest major video game adaptation and was expected to be on par with The Witcher. However, despite a strong first week viewership of 72 million, there was a dramatic decline in the following weeks and the series was immediately pulled by critics, leaving both long-time and new fans sorely disappointed. While there is no official reason why Netflix did not renew for a second season, they feel that the series failed on many levels, such as the horror dialogue, such as the reference to Zootopia fan fiction, the confusing narrative, and the weak acting. .

Although video game adaptations require an original plot, stories and characters must be successfully adapted from game elements. Arguably, the Resident Evil series would have been the perfect opportunity to adapt these elements and tell the classic stories of the games, however, despite trying to adapt some game elements, some fans found the story uninteresting and confusing, the and the execution was rather chaotic. It also didn’t help that the show came out right after the much-anticipated Season 4 of Stranger Things, which topped the ratings, so it’s fair to say that Resident Evil was competing with such a high standard that it was, perhaps, pretty quickly out of the running. from top 10.

The Resident Evil virus is over

Following the cancellation news, Lance Reddick took to Twitter to thank those who were a part of the series and acknowledge its end, saying, “as you all know by now, our Resident Evil series on Netflix has been canceled.” He acknowledged and thanked the fans who watched the show, then thanked showrunners Mary Leah Sutton and Andrew Dabb, his co-stars, the production company, and Netflix executives who believed in the show. Despite the level and quality of the series being panned by viewers and critics, Reddick concluded by saying, “We worked ourselves to death, we had fun, and we made one hell of a good series. Thank you. Onward and upward.”

Showrunner Andrew Dabb will also no doubt be disappointed by the cancellation of the series, as he has previously spoken of his big plans for season two. The director of the popular Supernatural series, which ran for an astonishing 15 series, has even hinted that Resident Evil could be the one to overtake Supernatural and give it 16 series. Some fans might suggest that he should have incorporated some of these future plans into the first season, which could have resulted in a few more seasons to get the series off the ground.

Source: MovieWeb