What really happened to Albert Wesker? Are the Ashford twins more than an Easter egg? Does
Chief Irons know more than he's letting on? All that and more,
right here. Spoilers ahead!
The "Resident Evil" film saga gets a reboot with 2021's "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City."
Skewing more closely to Capcom's original video games than the previous film series,
this new spin on the Umbrella Corporation's ghastly experiments with bio-organic weapons
takes players back to the beginning. "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City"
opens with the brother-sister duo of Chris and Claire Redfield as children in the Raccoon City
Orphanage. Claire is visited by Lisa Trevor, a tragic monster whose backstory is unexplored
in this movie. Unlike in the 2002 remake of the original "Resident Evil," however,
Lisa is not a raging monster, but a scared little girl who, despite her ghastly visage,
only wants to be Claire's friend. The true villain of the intro and, indeed, the whole film, is Dr.
William Birkin, who uses the orphanage as a source of fresh meat for testing his viral concoctions.
As in "Resident Evil 2," Birkin is shot by an agent looking to secure a sample of the G-Virus.
He survives by injecting himself with the experimental serum and transforming
into a monster. His first form is taken down by Chris and Claire's well-placed shotgun slugs
and a point-blank handgun headshot. Like any classic "Resident Evil" final boss, however,
he returns in an even more mutated state. He nearly kills the Redfield siblings before Leon
shows up with a rocket launcher and takes him out for good with a missile to the face. This
is most definitely a nod to the video games, where this kind of thing happens all the time.
Having a rocket launcher appear in the film's climax is a true gift to fans of the games.
"You figured out the one thing I wanted more than anything else in the entire world and you got
it for me, and it's perfect."
One of the biggest divergences from the games in "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" comes in
the form of the leader of the doomed S.T.A.R.S. team sent to investigate the Spencer Mansion.
What's his name? Oh, yeah: "Albert Wesker."
In the game, Wesker is a double agent who has been working for the Umbrella Corporation all along,
helping to create their bio-organic weapons and basically causing all kinds of problems
and being a jerk to the heroes. "You guys are idiots."
In the movie, he has no loyalty to Umbrella, yet he still betrays his team.
This time, it's out of financial desperation and a desire to leave Raccoon City,
a corporate town that would be seen as dying even if the entire population wasn't turning into
flesh-eating zombies. He is given a Palm Pilot with a map of the mansion and instructions to
retrieve a sample of the G-Virus. This puts him on a crash course with Dr. William Birkin,
which doesn't end well for either of them.
As in "Resident Evil 2," "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" ends with the heroes and young
Sherry Birkin on an Umbrella cargo train, leaving the city. But in the original "Resident Evil,"
they escape via helicopter thanks to S.T.A.R.S. pilot Brad Vickers, who rescues them from the
roof of the mansion after throwing down the rocket launcher they use to defeat the first
Tyrant. Brad Vickers does show up in the movie, but he doesn't make it past the mansion:
He's ambushed by zombies, flies his helicopter into the mansion, and dies in a massive explosion
that nearly kills Jill and Wesker. Between the train escape and what was almost a helicopter
rescue, "Welcome to Raccoon City" manages to nod to both of the games that inspired it.
The fate of Raccoon City
original games or Paul W.S. Anderson's films, the fate of Raccoon City is always bleak.
In Resident Evil 3, the city is wiped off the map by a missile strike, which contains the
outbreak at a terrible cost. In "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," the destruction of
Raccoon City is portrayed somewhat differently. Rather than a tactical strike from outside the
city limits, Raccoon City is essentially made to self-destruct through an underground detonation.
Apparently, Umbrella has had the entire city rigged to implode in the event of an outbreak,
as a fail-safe system to contain any prospective infection. While some fans might be upset to
see this different version of Raccoon City's destruction, it's worth noting that "Resident
Evil: Apocalypse," while often ridiculed by gamers, does feature a faithful recreation
of the missile strike shown in "Resident Evil 3." So sure, it makes sense for the new movie
to try something different.
After "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" ends, a brief scene interrupts the credits,
showing the return of Albert Wesker. No, he didn't survive being shot to death
by Jill Valentine -- he's been revived by the mysterious benefactor who ordered him to steal
Umbrella's secrets. This person reveals herself to be none other than Ada Wong,
the fan-favorite spy who made her debut appearance in "Resident Evil 2."
She explains that she brought Wesker back to life, and hands him a pair of sunglasses.
In the games, Wesker is almost never seen without his iconic sunglasses -- he's
the Rex Kramer of the video game world.
"Alright, Steve, let's face a few facts."
The post-credits scene works as something of an origin story for this new take on one of the
most popular villains in video game history. It's also worth noting that this Wesker and Ada occupy
roles that are the opposite of the ones they hold in the games. There, Ada works for Wesker
during the Raccoon City Incident, as shown in the "Death's Door" scenario of 2007's "Resident Evil:
The Umbrella Chronicles." By the time the events of 2005's "Resident Evil 4" roll around,
Ada is ostensibly aligned with Wesker, but secretly working with a still-unknown employer.
In "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," Wesker is basically a regular cop Ada introduces
to a new world of espionage and intrigue.
In the wake of Raccoon City's destruction, William Birkin's death, and Albert Wesker's resurrection,
unanswered questions emerge. Firstly, does Lisa Trevor survive? In the game,
she's nigh invincible, only dying for good when the mansion explodes around her.
"Be a good girl and stay dead this time." In the film, she shows off her physical
strength when she tears a Licker apart in physical combat. Thus,
she and her video game counterpart clearly have physical traits in common. Much of her game-bound
backstory doesn't appear in the film, however. Will fans learn more in a subsequent film?
Secondly, who is Ada Wong working for? In both the games and "Resident Evil:
Welcome to Raccoon City," Ada Wong is a mysterious agent with a penchant for spy games.
"I was just some pawn to you?" "Look, I'm just doing my job."
It's a sure bet she'll play a key role in a sequel, if the box office fates allow it.
Thirdly, how much does Chief Irons know about Umbrella? In the games, Brian Irons,
the RPD's chief of police, is an outright villain who murders the mayor's daughter and nearly kills
Sherry Birkin. In the movie, he seems to know about Umbrella's dastardly deeds,
but he's not a villain -- in fact, he even brings Claire and Leon to the Raccoon City Orphanage and
tells them how to get to Spencer Mansion before getting attacked and killed by a Licker. He's
likely in on Umbrella's plot to some degree, but whether or not that qualifies him as an outright
bad guy is open to debate.
Traditionally, each game in the "Resident Evil" saga tells its own story, set within a wider,
interconnected world. Sometimes, characters and storylines are dropped for years before
being picked up again. For example, Sherry Birkin from 1998's "Resident Evil 2" doesn't
make another proper, canonical appearance until 2012's "Resident Evil 6," where she
appears as one of the main playable characters. The point is, with characters coming in and out
of the games all the time, a film sequel could conceivably go anywhere. In "Resident Evil:
Welcome to Raccoon City," the story wraps up in a reasonably airtight fashion,
meaning the filmmakers have their options open when it comes to how to approach a sequel.
Teasing the Ashford twins might be more than just an Easter egg: A second movie could adapt
portions of 2000's "Resident Evil -- Code: Veronica," which takes Chris and Claire to
an Antarctic base where they fight the Ashfords and a powered-up Wesker. In the games' canon,
Jill's next key appearance following the destruction of Raccoon City occurs
in "Resident Evil 5," where she is brainwashed by Wesker to fight against her old allies.
"Still resisting at such an advanced stage. Commendable, yet futile."
Leon next appears in the beloved "Resident Evil 4."
Though it's tonally different from the prior games, it wouldn't be surprising to see some
variation of that entry's "Leon in Spain" premise form the basis of a future "Resident Evil" movie.
Finally, while the Umbrella Corporation is the main antagonist of the film -- and most
"Resident Evil" projects -- it's mostly absent from "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City."
However, the film's ending suggests they will continue to be the villains of future projects.
If so, Ozwell Spencer, the founder of Umbrella -- who is mentioned by name in the film -- will
likely make an appearance. As he has a close relationship with Albert Wesker in the games,
this new film series could do something interesting with their particular dynamic.
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