Resident Evil's 2026 Reboot Seemingly Reveals Massive Raccoon City Lore Change In New Footage

Published Aug 21, 2026, 1:00 AM EDT

Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.

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Zach Cregger looks to have made one unique lore change in new Resident Evil footage.

The upcoming film marks the second reboot of the movie franchise adapting Capcom's iconic survival horror games, with the Weapons filmmaker co-writing and directing the new installment. Led by Austin Abrams, the new Resident Evil takes place largely alongside the events of the 1998 sequel game, centering on a medical courier whose delivery to Raccoon City's General Hospital turns into an intense fight for survival as an unknown outbreak transforms those around him into terrifying monsters.

With just under a month remaining until the film's September 18 release, a new Resident Evil TV spot (via Twitter user Kathy Anhy) has been released. The video, as seen below, features much of the same footage as seen in previous trailers of the film, though does show Abrams' character being attacked by a dog with tentacles sprouting from its mouth, seemingly teasing a major lore change for the Raccoon City outbreak:

Ever since the original 1996 game, dogs have been a consistent part of the Resident Evil franchise, with various versions of the zombified hounds being used for a combination of iconic jump scares and intense encounters with players. Even as the games moved beyond the Raccoon City limits, where Doberman Pinschers were the breed used for said sequences, other dog types were eventually introduced, particularly that of the Colmillos from Resident Evil 4.

It's the latter enemy type, which was infected by the Las Plagas parasites, that the dog seen in the new Resident Evil footage seems to closely resemble, with its tentacles shooting out of its mouth to grab the arm of Abrams' character being somewhat similar to the Colmillos in the game. However, it's also worth noting that in the hit 2005 sequel game and its 2023 remake, the Colmillos' tentacles spawn out of its back rather than its mouth.

If this was indeed Cregger's intention, that would mark a major Resident Evil lore change as it would officially establish the Las Plagas as being part of Raccoon City's demise. The games didn't introduce the parasite until the fourth game, which not only took place in Spain, but also years after the city was destroyed in a nuclear explosion to contain the outbreak, which was attributed to the spread of the G and T-viruses. It would later return in Resident Evil: Vendetta as having been part of A-Virus' creation by Glenn Arias, though still didn't appear in Raccoon City itself.

Cregger did previously confirm that the fourth game was a big inspiration for his Resident Evil reboot, and that there would be many Easter eggs for players to find in the film, which the Colmillos-like dog may very well be. However, if he has potential ideas for more films in the series, there's also a possibility that tweaking Raccoon City's lore is part of his plan for laying the foundation for one or more sequels.

Cast

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  Austin Abrams

  Bryan

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  Carl

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  Kali Reis

  Pauline

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  Dave