Resident Evil Requiem looks awesome, but it’s time for a reboot 

Resident Evil Requiem is poised to be one of the biggest games of 2026, with some incredible trailers that are exciting longtime fans and attracting new ones. The big question is how long Capcom can keep using the same timeline, as the classic cast members are getting long in the tooth, which might be time for a remake. 

Resident Evil Requiem not only follows on from the events of the mainline games but acts as a sequel to Resident Evil Outbreak, an early multiplayer entry in the franchise. The game stars Grace Ashcroft, daughter of Alyssa from Resident Evil Outbreak, who is being hunted by former Umbrella Corporation scientists for some unknown purpose, but it probably involves monsters. 

The Escapist recaps

• Resident Evil Requiem will be the ninth entry in the franchise. 
• 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the Resident Evil franchise. 
• Spin-offs aside, the Resident Evil games are set within the same timeline, with their own canon. 
• Now that so much time has passed, the time is approaching for Capcom to reboot the franchise. 

Resident Evil Requiem has beloved characters showing their age

Grace isn’t the only playable character in Resident Evil Requiem, as Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 2 is also a protagonist. As Resident Evil Requiem exists in the same timeline as the other games, it’s currently set in 2028, which means that Leon is now in his fifties, as he was in his twenties when the events of Resident Evil 2 took place.

Leon is looking great for his age, especially as the ravages of time have done little to stop him from kicking zombie ass in the Resident Evil Requiem trailers. There is a lore reason for this, as Resident Evil: Death Island did confirm that being infected by one of the many monster viruses can slow your aging, which is why Jill still looks the same as she did in Resident Evil 5, so Leon could also be benefiting from this plot convenience. 

The problem is that the Resident Evil franchise is reluctant to let the old characters go and let new faces take over. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard almost managed this, but Capcom couldn’t help throwing Chris Redfield in at the end. This got worse in the sequel, with Chris receiving his own dedicated level in Resident Evil Village. 

The main characters who were around for the Spencer Mansion incident and the preceding infection/destruction of Raccon City have been kicking around for decades now, seemingly unable to enjoy retirement, because monsters keep attacking them. Similarly, the series’ lore continues to become increasingly convoluted, with the story of a virus creating zombies evolving into a borderline supernatural tale, based on the mold powers from later games. 

Resident Evil 10 will be the perfect game to wrap up the current timeline

Resident Evil Requiem has the potential to be the final story in the current timeline, but it’s unlikely that Capcom will choose this game to go out on. Instead, the more likely candidate is Resident Evil 10, X, or whatever it ends up being called.

2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the Resident Evil franchise, which means that the series is hitting a few milestones around the same time, especially if Resident Evil 10 is hinted at or revealed in that year. 

There are also several rumored Resident Evil remakes in the works, such as Resident Evil: Code – Veronica. There are a finite number of these, however, unless Capcom plans to keep remaking the same games forever. Once the next handful are done, the next on the list are the problematic Resident Evil 5 and the terrible Resident Evil 6. Once the good Resident Evil games are remade, then that well will have run dry. 

Resident Evil 10 is the perfect time to wrap up the current timeline of the franchise. Bring back all of the major characters from throughout the series, as well as the villains (Wesker just can’t stay dead), and a few of the minor ones who haven’t been seen in years (like Billy from Resident Evil 0), for one epic tale that concludes storylines that have run for decades. Once that’s done, then it’s time for something new, or rather, a retelling of something old. 

What a Resident Evil reboot could look like

The obvious plot for a Resident Evil reboot is to remake the original game, with some changes. Chances are, fresh iterations of Chris and Jill will be the lead characters, but the events of the canon timeline won’t bind Capcom, as they would be if they tried doing another remake. 

One direction could involve the S.T.A.R.S. team somehow failing in their mission, leading to the T-Virus spreading much further than it did in the timeline. This might make things more like The Walking Dead, but it’s an easy way to scale up the reboot timeline. 

It’s also possible to do a fresh start, with new characters, but set at a point in time when the Umbrella Corporation’s true nature hasn’t been revealed yet. Having the first protagonists of the latest Resident Evil timeline actually being Umbrella employees who uncover the company’s dodgy secrets would be a great way to kick things off.

The reboot timeline not only has the chance to ignore all the events that happened before, but also offers fresh takes on existing characters and allows people who died suddenly in their original appearances (like most of the original S.T.A.R.S. team) to have prominent roles that were previously denied to them. 

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