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Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City trailer gives an itchy, tasty look at the film

The new trailer for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a little goofy, but also packed full of references to the series.

TJ Denzer

October 7, 2021 10:07 AM

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For a while now, Sony Pictures has been preparing a reboot of the Resident Evil live-action film series. Under the direction of Johannes Roberts, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City goes back to the core story of the series, doing a combined adaptation of the first Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2. We finally got an extended look at what’s coming in the new Resident Evil movie with a lengthy trailer. It looks a bit goofy at times and seems to bend the story a bit, but it also includes a number of iconic early franchise moments.

Sony Pictures released the new trailer for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City on the Sony Pictures YouTube channel on October 7, 2021. It offers us one of our first major looks at the actors in action, including Avan Jogia as Leon Kennedy, Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, and Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield. Interestingly, while it follows mostly similar beats to the games and the initial Raccoon City zombie outbreak, it also features plot points like Claire apparently being an anti-Umbrella activist and conspiracy theorist from the get-go (that actually happened later in the series).

Story bends aside, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City also features some iconic moments from the series. We get to see the bloody words “ITCHY, TASTY” on a window, a classic from a file in the first game, as well as the discovery of the first zombie munching on a victim as it turns its head to see the characters approaching. A semi truck crash and helicopter crash in Raccoon City also appear to be on the menu, similar to events in Resident Evil 2.

There’s some goofy-looking CG at certain points too, as well as some odd camera angles, but it looks like Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is set to deliver what it promised, which is a return to the classic story with just a few twists. The movie got pushed back from its previous September release date, but now it’s set to launch on November 24, 2021, only in theaters. Stay tuned for further updates, reveals, and coverage of the film. You can also likely catch Donovan and Greg discussing it on today’s episode of Pop! Goes the Culture.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.