Last month, Netflix made a surprising announcement when it revealedResident Evil: Infinite Darkness,an animated series set in theResident Evilgames universe. It’s worth noting thatResident Evil: Infinite Darknessis different from the otherResident Evilproject at Netflix, which will be a live-action movie that appears to be loosely based on the video game franchise.
At the moment, the exact plot ofResident Evil: Infinite Darknessis still unknown, but it has been confirmed that the animated series will starResident Evilveterans, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Moreover, Netflix confirmed thatInfinite Darknesswould be part of the video game franchise’s canonseveral days ago. The big question that most fans probably have is where the video game franchise’s timeline willResident Evil: Infinite Darknessoccur?
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In Between Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6
As previously mentioned, the story ofResident Evil: Infinite Darknessremains a mystery, which is why the animated series could fit just about anywhere inResident Evil’s24-year history. However, one major clue that Netflix has provided right now is Leon and Claire; age. Looking at the photos released so far, it is obvious that both Leon and Claire are a little bit on the older side, which debunks any possibility of the Netflix series to take place immediately afterResident Evil 2and beforeResident Evil Code Veronica.
One possibility where the series could fit would be somewhere in betweenResident Evil 5andResident Evil 6.To those unfamiliar, the gap between these two games is set in the years 2009-2012. InResident Evil 5, players witnessed the Kijuju Incident that featured Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar, but what Leon and Claire were up to remains unknown during this time. The next we see of Leon is duringResident Evil 6in late 2012, and Claire inResident Evil Revelations 2,which took place afterResident Evil 6in 2014. The series could revolve around how Leon got involved with the events leading up toRE6and how Claire became a prominent figure in the non-governmental human rights agency TerraSave.
In Between Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil 7
Another place in the timeline whereResident Evil: Infinite Darknesscould likely fit is the period in betweenResident Evil 6and7, which falls somewhere in 2012-2017. It’s worth remembering that due to thedisappointing sales ofResident Evil 6, Capcom was forced to take a step back and really think about where it wants to bring the franchise moving forward. After years in development, Capcom releasedResident Evil 7, a huge departure from previous games in the franchise, not only in terms of gameplay but also in its story.
Moreover,Resident Evil 7’sstory is almost completely unrelated to its predecessors, apart from ashort appearance from Chris Redfield. Even then, Chris' appearance in the game and its DLC is the only link to the previous games given that the direction of his story inResident Evil 7also took a completely different turn. Of course, in terms of game design, this is just Capcom’s way of rebooting the franchise, but in terms of the overall plot, it is obvious that there is a missing link betweenResident Evil 7and everything that came before it.
Having said that, it is possible thatResident Evil: Infinite Darknesswill fill in the missing gap between the established story and the new direction that Capcom took inResident Evil 7and will continue inResident Evil 8. The animated series could revolve around the events leading up toResident Evil 7,such as a more in-depth introduction of The Connections, The Mold, and Blue Umbrella, especially since the lattermay play a big role inResident Evil 8.Nonetheless, out of all the possible places in the timelineInfinite Darknesscould fall into, Netflix has the perfect opportunity to bridge the gap between the old and the new games.
Resident Evil: Infinite Darknessis scheduled to release in 2021.
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