Resident Evil Timeline: When The 2026 Movie Takes Place Compared To The Games

Published Sep 17, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT

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Zach Cregger's new Resident Evil movie has an interesting relationship with the video games upon which it is based, which has led to major discussions about when the movie takes place. Set to move the franchise away from Resident Evil's action focus on the big screen back to horror, the film is an incredibly exciting offering.

While there are no plans for a Resident Evil sequel from Cregger, the IP itself is valuable. If the new film succeeds, it seems assured that another filmmaker will follow up on this new story if Cregger does not decide to return. Considering the film's tracking for the biggest opening in the franchise, things look auspicious for Resident Evil.

The new film does not get bogged down by lore that is too deeply connected to the games, and tells a Resident Evil story with a shorter runtime. Still, as an established property that has been releasing video games, movies, and shows since 1996, there is a legacy to the franchise that is important to respect.

While the major characters from the games are not set to appear in the new film, it is still essential that elements of the story that fans love make its way into the story. As a result, there remain real questions about the full Resident Evil timeline, and how this film fits into it in a number of unexpected ways.

Resident Evil Is Adjacent To The Events Of Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil has been confirmed to take place around the events of the game Resident Evil 2. During a roundtable interview where ScreenRant was in attendance, Cregger explained where the film fits into the series' timeline:

I wanted to construct a story that could live in the world of Resident Evil and be maybe on the periphery of the events of Resident Evil 2, where Raccoon City is having its big night, but tell another story that could be happening in parallel to that that really honors the vibe and the pacing that you get when you play the games.

The events of Resident Evil 2 are fundamental for the series. They occur three months after the first game in the series, on September 29th and 30th, 1998, shortly after the first real outbreak of the t-Virus. This leaves Raccoon City infested by the Infected, as the U.S. military strategizes the best way to respond to the outbreak.

Notably, in the games, the situation in Raccoon City is eventually deemed too dangerous to contain. The president orders a thermonuclear strike, and the entire city and its remaining population are destroyed on October 1st.

That video game is one of the most beloved in the series, and it introduces two of its most iconic characters, including Leon S. Kennedy, who is perhaps the face of Resident Evil today. With that in mind, and with this context established, there is much that can be inferred from this setting, including where the other heroes might be.

Where Are Resident Evil's Biggest Game Characters During The Movie?

Based on Cregger's comments, it is possible to outline exactly where the most popular Resident Evil characters would be during the events of the new film.

Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield are the first and most obvious, and their paths intersect with other great characters, including Ada Wong and Sherry Birkin.

During these events, Leon is a rookie cop, and Claire is searching for her missing brother. The bulk of the action places them at the Raccoon City Police Department as they attempt to escape the hordes.

Occurring three months after the events of the first Resident Evil and the destruction of the mansion in July, Chris Redfield is in Europe during these events, attempting to uncover the secrets of the Umbrella Corporation. This leads directly into the events of Resident Evil: Code Veronica and its upcoming remake game.

These events also intersect with the game Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and its remake. If occurring on the same two days as Resident Evil 2, the film would occur when Jill Valentine is unconscious after being infected with the t-Virus, around the time that Carlos Oliveira searches through the abandoned hospital for a vaccine.

Resident Evil Brings The Story Into The Present Day

The video game of Resident Evil 2 takes place on September 29th and 30th, 1998. The film, however, sees a world covered in snow during the events of the t-Virus outbreak. As a result, the movie looks to likely be moving from its September setting, unless it is an especially cold end to summer.

More notably, however, the events of the new story clearly do not take place in 1998. Bryan is shown using a smartphone in footage, which appears to place the movie's timeline somewhere around the present-day.

With all of this in mind, it seems that details of this kind are being updated for the film. This makes sense, and was what occurred with the Milla Jovovich-starring films, which began in 2002. However, this does add an interesting wrinkle to the canon of the video games that is worth looking into in closer detail.

Is Resident Evil 2026 Canon To The Video Games?

Cregger's Resident Evil is not exactly canon to the video games, but the major events are still largely considered to align. Like Cregger described in the aforementioned interview, he wanted this film to take place during what occurred in Resident Evil 2. The major difference is that the events have been transposed to the present day.

The excellent Resident Evil: Requiem is proof that the film is not exactly canon. That game takes place in Raccoon City in October 2026, and places the events of Resident Evil 2 nearly thirty years in the past.

The game shows the immense devastation of the outbreak as it has affected the city and the world over time. Conversely, the film sees it as new.

The Resident Evil games have their own canon, and the blueprints of that are embedded in the structure and ideas behind the new film. But by moving the story forward into the future, it does not exactly fit in. Still, even that canon is subject to change with the upcoming Resident Evil: Veronica.

While it seems that the new story intends to follow what has largely occurred in the games, that is subject to change in the future. There is no guarantee that the future events of Resident Evil 4, where Leon travels to Spain to rescue the president's daughter, will fit neatly into this new timeline six years from now, for example.

Video games and movies are very different mediums, and most of what works in Resident Evil is not too directly linked to one time period or another. Removing the 1998 context of the games was likely the easiest choice for the production, although it does make some of the deeper lore harder to match up.