Netflix‘s “Resident Evil” series is now available to stream globally. If you’ve already hit play, you might’ve noticed that the creatures extend well beyond the typical zombie variety.
Speaking with showrunner Andrew Dabb ahead of the series premiere revealed the approach to which video game characters made their way into the series and why. Dabb wanted to create an original story that evolved from the world of video games, and season one is only the appetizer.
Dabb explains, “We didn’t go into it with a list of, ‘Here are the three or four monsters we want to put in there.’ Do you know what I mean? What we went in it was, ‘Okay. Here our characters are; here’s where the journey has taken them. They’re in this long dark tunnel. What’s something creepy to put in that long dark tunnel?’ Then you go to the games, like, ‘Oh, well, let’s put some Lickers in there. Let’s put a giant spider in there.’ That’s really where it came from.
“That gave us a lot of flexibility because we’re not married to the games. We’re not making a line-for-line or game-for-game adaptation on purpose, giving us a vast toy box to pull from. And we took very full advantage of that.“
Dabb elaborates further, “I think the creative process was, what can we do that serves our story, but it’s something cool as well? If you look at, for example, the mother zombie from episode four. That character doesn’t necessarily exist in the games, but it feels like it probably could. A zombie that can control other zombies, so that was the challenge there. I thought, ‘Okay if we’re going to do that, how can we make something that looks crazy?’ It’s easy for me to write, ‘She’s the most horrific monster you’ve ever seen in your life.’ Then it’s up to people that know what they’re doing to make that come to life. Thankfully, they did.”
One of the more surprising inclusions of the series may be none other than Albert Wesker, played by Lance Reddick. Wesker is an enduring franchise villain with a specific fate in the Resident Evil 5 video game. Dabb purposely wanted to subvert fan expectations with this character.
“When we went into Wesker, it was never something where we’re like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be the original Wesker.’ Again, we take the games very seriously. He dies in the games; he’s dead. But as you and I both know, there are many ways to move past that. What we’re able to do is figure out how we can bring this character back in a way where the audience is going to see that trailer and be like, ‘Albert Wesker family man. What the hell? These guys don’t know what they’re doing.’ My hope is people will take the time and watch the show, and they’ll realize we kind of know what we’re doing. I’m not going to say 100% we know what we’re doing, but we kind of know. We’ll get you there in a way that makes sense and fits in with the Resident Evil lore.”
Zombies, Cerberus, Lickers, Albert Wesker, and so much more get packed into the inaugural season of “Resident Evil.” But Dabb has lofty plans to venture into the wilder aspects of the video games’ complex mythology and bestiary.
Dabb teases his desire to include everything from the original game’s Plant 42 to Resident Evil Village‘s Lady Dimitrescu in future seasons.
“The Wesker girls have started to uncover this mystery. But as fans of the games know, that mystery gets really crazy quick. What I call season one is Resident Evil 101. There are some zombies and some monsters, but we’re not into Uroboros, plant monster, or giant vampire territory yet, but we’re going to get there.
“The idea is as we move forward, more elements from the games, both creatures, and some legacy characters will start to be incorporated.”
You can read our review of the show’s first season right here.