[Ed. note: Spoilers for the ending of Netflix’s Resident Evil follow.]
Resident Evil’s first season doesn’t draw heavily from the games that inspired it, but in its final moments it seems like that may change in future seasons.
After wrapping up its near-future postapocalyptic story for now, the season finale then concludes in the present day, with the teen versions of its protagonists Jade and Billie Wesker (Tamara Smart and Siena Agudong) fleeing the confines of New Raccoon City with a clone of their father, Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick). Their destination? Ada Wong, the fan-favorite character that first appeared in Resident Evil 2.
According to showrunner Andrew Dabb, the plan for future seasons of Resident Evil is to continue to fold in familiar characters from the games in both its present-day story about teen Jade and Billie and in its postapocalyptic future.
“The question becomes, how do people change?” Dabb says. “So there are characters we haven’t seen in quite a while: Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield being examples of that. How do they react in the present day to all this stuff happening?”
This essentially means everything from the games is on the table, up to and including that Tyrant we get a glimpse of this season but never really see in action. But more interesting to Dabb is the fact that Resident Evil has two timelines to play with these characters in.
“An equally interesting question, if not more interesting, is what happens 14 years, 15 years, 16 years in the future where the thing they were trying to prevent has happened? These characters have spent their lives fighting these outbreaks. What happens when you lose? What does it look like?” Dabb asks.
While Netflix hasn’t yet renewed Resident Evil for a second season, Dabb certainly has plans for one — and much more beyond that.
“Over the course of the series, I want to bring everything in,” Dabb says. “Left to my own devices, I want Lady D, I want the plant monster, I want it all. I want everything, but judiciously [and] responsibly over time.”
Additional reporting by Michael McWhertor.