An Early Look at Netflix’s Resident Evil series with showrunner Andrew Dabb

Resident Evil fans have seen quite a bit. With the incredible video game series from Capcom to the divisive – yet profitable – feature film series starring Milla Jovovich, to the recent big-screen reboot, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, they’ve seen it all. With that, there is no keeping a flesh-eating monster down. This is why Netflix had the sense to scale this franchise back a bit, bring it to the small screen, and take a different approach with a focus on the video games as mythology as opposed to the features. That is exactly what showrunner, writer, and executive producer Andrew Dabb had in mind.

The new eight-episode series features Ella Balinska, Lance Riddick, Turlough Convery, Tetiana Gaidar, Droxzyfps, Connor Gosatti, and more. As a fan of the franchise in general, I was very much looking forward to what these fine folks would bring to the world. And along with a small handful of journalists, JoBlo was invited to get an early look at the new series. While I can’t say much about what I’ve witnessed thus far, I can say it’s not what you might be expecting. By bringing the monstrous mayhem to Netflix, the folks behind the latest journey back to Raccoon City aren’t afraid to bring on the beasts, the gore, and a ton of other surprises with easter eggs aplenty. The series premieres on July 14th, 2022, and frankly, I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

While the official release is a couple of months away, today, we are excited to bring you the teaser trailer for the upcoming series. In addition, we took some time while at Netflix to speak to Andrew about what he and his team have planned. The showrunner opened up about the footage we were shown – which included the first two episodes – and what we can expect as the show progresses.

One thing that is likely to please fans of the video game series will be a large part of the mythology for the series. We aren’t likely to see all that much inspiration from Anderson’s films, nor the recent 2021 return. Here is what Andrew had to say about how the Capcom video games are a part of this new and scary world:

Andrew Dadd: So the games are the backstory. So everything that happened in the games happened in this world, in the timeline that it happened. So Raccoon City was nuked in 98′. That’s when it happened in the game. So everything in there forms our backstory and a lot of the things we’re kind of uncovering here, starting now, but even more so as the story goes forward, are these characters discovering that maybe Umbrella Corporation isn’t just like Pfizer. Like there may be something more going on here. And so we’re using that kind of, we don’t, I don’t sit here and say, we go into everything, cuz the backstory is very deep and, and, and compelling, but there’s a lot there, but we can start that process.

When it came to the character of Albert Wesker and his involvement in the new series.

AD: Here’s what I will say about that. We are very aware that Albert Wesker was blown up in a volcano by a rocket launcher. We’ve all been there. That’s fine. Grandfather died. There is a very good reason why Wesker is back and it does not come down to the fact that he was wearing, uh, lava and rocket launcher-proof clothes. So we’re very aware of that. It will be dealt with.

On how much of an imprint the previous versions will have from the games to the movies.

AD: There are a lot of elements that are being pulled in [from the games]. In terms of monsters, in terms of some characters, there are characters from the games who haven’t appeared in the game for 10 years, they may be iconic characters. They haven’t been around. What were they doing during that time? You know, in some cases, we kind of know if you’ve been following the games, some of the backstories, some cases we have literally no idea. So it creates some interesting opportunities for us. And I’m not saying the show, especially in season one is not like a checklist where it’s like, okay, we need all the red fields. We need Jill Valentine. We need this here. We’re gonna run it down. But we meet a couple of people in season one, and if it is successful, knock on wood, hopefully, more as we go forward.

When it comes to whether the series will be more horror or action-oriented.

AD: The hope is that we’ll be a mix and the hope is that we always try to lead with horror and then the action comes second, which I think is actually the core of the games as well. I think in these first two episodes, there’s a lot of scale to them because they’re the first two episodes. I think as we move forward, this will shift into horror, but also that horror can build to bigger action. That’s the advantage of Resident Evil, where you can throw a bunch of zombies at people and you can throw a giant caterpillar at people. You can throw whatever you want at people. If you look at the games, they’ve got zombie sharks and alligators and plants and literally, everything can be a zombie. Zombie trash can? Why not? It’s a new world. So our hope is if it’s an action horror show. We always try to be horror first, but certainly, we can have some action as well.

On Capcom’s involvement in the project.

AD: Capcom was able to weigh in at every step and a lot of conversations were had about our zombies. The only thing we’re dealing with here, and this is a hallmark of the games. It’s nothing new. There have been a lot of different strains of the T-virus in the games. And as we know, virus variants evolve very quickly. So the virus we’re dealing with in the show is not quite the same virus you’re seeing. Again, the virus in the games was in the games, right? This is new, a bit of a new thing that shares a lot of similarities, but also gave us room for some slight differences as well. But everything was meant to feel like it could be in the world of Resident Evil versus being something beamed in from Star Trek. We wanted to feel true to the source. Even if it wasn’t directly from the source material, it feels true to the source material.

On the subject of whether much of the film series would influence the show.

AD: I think when it comes to the movies, and comes to the games to a degree, I don’t expect anyone to come into this with an encyclopedic knowledge of everything. Even super fans of the games, like there’s so much Resident Evil stuff out there between the animated [versions] and there are comic books that they’ve read. So what I wanted to do was create something that you can come to if you’ve played one game, you’ve seen one movie, you can enjoy it. You’ve played none, nothing, and never seen a movie. You can still enjoy it. My hope is for those people, this can be a gateway to the wider world of Resident Evil.

On finding the balance to please fans of the videogames and the more casual fan.

AD: I will speak from experience when I say this. I don’t think there’s any version of pleasing everybody. I think you try to do something that feels right to you and feels true to the show. And look, I could put Resident Evil on this chair and they would pay me a thousand dollars for it. Cuz it says “Resident Evil.” Other people, you could make the best thing in the world and they’re gonna find things they don’t like because some people view nostalgia in this way, which is like, why isn’t this making me feel like I felt when I was 13-years-old playing the game for the first time? It’s not going to, you’re now 45. You’ve got a divorce. You’ve got a mortgage. Like those things are gone.

On the subject of avoiding making simply a “checklist” show.

AD: It’s like, okay, well I know what fans like, cause I went on the forums, I went on Reddit. And the fans say they like these 20 things. So I put these 20 things in the show it’s a success. And they go and they do it and it fails. And I’m like, but the 20 things, I put the 20 things in! Because at heart, that’s not what people want. What they want is to experience this world. And they want something that feels like it is a natural extension of this thing they already enjoy. And I would say the Marvel Universe does that very well. Most of the movies are not adapting a specific comic. They are borrowing here and there and they’re building something new. That is very much how we approach this. We’re trying to be very conscious and the games are our canon, and I’m sure we made mistakes, but we did not consciously violate any rules from the games. But at the same time, it’s not a direct adaptation of the games. There have been many, many people that have done those and they already exist this and that’s not what this is.

On the teaser trailer, and what he hopes fans take from it.

AD: What I hope people [take from it ] is the tone and the fact that we are not backing away from this being a Resident Evil series. It’s not, as I’ve seen online, it’s not Riverdale with zombies. It is a Resident Evil show. And it’s got the blood and the guts and the gore and the monsters and the secrets and the betrayals and all that stuff. And I hope people really respond to that. The teaser is meant to be a teaser, right? You’re meant to watch it and be like, oh shit, I would watch that. There’s not a ton of story in it but I hope people respond to that. I hope people also respond to the energy of it because that’s something that’s really important in the show is to keep the pace up. We have eight episodes. I’m used to a show with 22 episodes. We have eight. So to quote 80’s DJs, it’s all killer, no filler. We try to keep it moving. And it’s not just like monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, it’s conflict, conflict, conflict, conflict, whether that’s with a monster, with your sister, or with your father or a giant, multi-national corporation that wants to kill us all either way.