Why Leon & Jill Aren't In The New Resident Evil Movie
Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW.
They are two of the biggest characters in the franchise, so why aren't Leon and Jill appearing in the new Resident Evil film? The Resident Evil movie franchise has become a fascinating beast of its own. This six-part action/horror saga has little to do with the games and instead follows Milla Jovovich's Alice as she travels around a post-apocalyptic world battling zombies and other horrific monsters.
Despite receiving largely poor reviews and being hated by certain sections of the fanbase, the Jovovich series was incredibly successful. It should be said that the movies did borrow pieces from the Resident Evil games (such as characters and creatures) but they never directly adapted any of the storylines.
A reboot later arrived in the form of 2021's Welcome to Raccoon City, an ambitious but messy attempt to merge the plots of the first two games. That outing underperformed, and now, director Zach Cregger is attempting a fresh relaunch with the simply titled Resident Evil. Devotees looking for a faithful take have been let down somewhat by the reboot, though, since Cregger opted to tell a fresh story set inside the universe instead.
Zach Cregger Wanted To Tell An Original Resident Evil Story
Cregger's film follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier tasked with delivering a mystery package to Raccoon City. Unbeknownst to him, the city is in the midst of a full-fledged outbreak, and he has to dodge all manner of horrors to survive. Cregger has described himself as a huge follower of the games, but decided not to bring in familiar characters like Leon because he feels their stories have been told in the games.
Speaking with Inverse in 2025 - and having reiterated this point in many interviews since - Cregger stated, “I’m not going to tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games. [Fans] already have that.” To his mind, a live-action adaptation can't possibly improve on what the games did, and he wants to offer fans and newcomers a new experience that is still faithful to the lore of the series.
In previous live-action movies, Johann Urb played Leon in 2012's Resident Evil: Retribution while Avan Jogia portrayed the role in Welcome to Raccoon City. Sienna Guillory played Jill in Apocalypse, Afterlife and Retribution, while Hannah John-Kamen's Jill appeared in Welcome to Raccoon City.
In a sense, he wants to recreate the experience of loading up a Resident Evil game for the first time and taking audiences on a new journey. It's an intriguing take, and the reviews for Cregger's Resident Evil have labeled it a gory and incredibly fun video game adaptation. Still, Cregger has admitted that some fans hate his approach and wanted to see a movie where characters like Jill or Leon turn up and fight familiar beasties.
How Leon & Jill Could Appear In Resident Evil Sequels
The response from the fanbase shouldn't be a total surprise. For those who were vocally unhappy with how Jovovich's 15-year run with Resident Evil had little to do with the games, the news that Cregger's adaptation was focusing on an original plotline was never going to go down well. Despite this, there is a good chance a sequel will have more connections with Capcom's survival horror property.
Even if the film is a huge success, Cregger will likely move on to other projects, like his upcoming thriller The Flood. Perhaps he will stay involved as a writer or producer, but either way, an obvious direction a potential sequel could take would be to bring in characters like Chris, Jill or Leon, and do a more accurate version of the classic games.
After all, Cregger has stated that his film does take place inside the world of the games - even if the Raccoon City outbreak has been moved from 1998 to modern day. A follow-up could, in theory, cover either the second or third video games, which both take place inside the city as the outbreak is ongoing. It could also take a more action-packed approach with a live-action version of the beloved Resident Evil 4, where Leon battles a cult in a remote village.
It feels like a safe bet Zach Cregger's Resident Evil will be a hit for Sony, especially with the filmmaker coming off the success of Weapons. The movie could act as both a soft reset of the film series while acting as an introduction for newbies, before future entries dive deeper into the world of the games.
Source: Inverse
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Resident Evil
- Release Date
- September 18, 2026
- Runtime
- 90 Minutes
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
A medical courier heads to Raccoon City General Hospital for what should be an ordinary delivery. His mission turns dangerous when an undead outbreak erupts and traps him in a terrifying night of chaos.
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- Movie(s)
- Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Resident Evil
- TV Show(s)
- Resident Evil
- Video Game(s)
- Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD, Resident Evil, Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Requiem, Resident Evil Veronica
- First Film
- Resident Evil
- First Game
- Resident Evil
- Genres
- Horror, Action
Horror franchise Resident Evil started off as an acclaimed survival horror video game series on the Sony PlayStation, with new entries released for each subsequent console generation. Outside of games, the hit franchise includes feature films, a TV show, comics, and novels.
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