Back in 1996, Capcom’s Resident Evil video game completely rocked the gaming community, going on to become one of the most famous and successful horror-survival game franchises of all time with its subsequent sequels over the years. The popularity of the games translated into the franchise’s debut in the film industry, and over the period of 26 years, we have seen 14 consoles and seven movies, each of these entries contributing more to the storyline as well as the brand value. Even though the films have gradually lost the touch that horrified and thrilled fans with the same effectiveness as the games, one cannot deny that the Resident Evil series remains an essential pick in every zombie fan’s favorite watch-list.

The enormous success of the game Resident Evil 7 (2017) prompted Netflix to bring back the franchise to the land of live-action adaptations, even though the response to the 2021 reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City was mediocre at best. Announced formally in 2020, Resident Evil has been greenlit as an eight-episode series with each episode about an hour in length. Andrew Dabb (Supernatural) has been tapped in as the showrunner as well as a co-writer for the series. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed production for nearly eight months, and could only begin in February 2021. Netflix's Resident Evil storyline appears to be deviating from the one already established in the games, however, it does look like the upcoming series will have something for everybody. Glimpses of what the fans can expect in the Netflix adaptation can be seen in Season 1’s trailer, which was released quite recently:

The Resident Evil trailer confirms that the show will be taking a stroll in two separate timelines - in 2022 and in 2036. None of the previous protagonists from the games or the films have made an appearance yet in the teasers or trailer, instead, the story will be seen through the eyes of a new character called Jade Wesker. Season 1 will set up Jade and her family’s story, which includes her twin sister Billie and her father, Dr. Albert Wesker, whose name might sound familiar to the fans of the video game series. Several fan-favorite mutants/monsters make a return in the Resident Evil trailer, which includes zombie dogs and the Licker. Jade speaks to the viewers and reveals the world did not end in 2036 as most people believe, but way back in 2022. There are several shots of her and some human survivors fighting their way back to safety, which is quite reminiscent of both the games and the movies.

Resident Evil will be premiering on Netflix this week. So while we anxiously wait for a return to the zombie-infested world and Raccoon City, let’s have a look at the cast and their corresponding characters who will be making a trip through the bioengineered hell with the viewers in Season 1 of Resident Evil.

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Image via Netflix

Related:‘Resident Evil’: New Images Pay Homage to Classic Franchise Villain

Ella Balinska as Jade Wesker

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Image via Netflix

Jade Wesker is a new character that has been introduced in Netflix’s Resident Evil series and will be portrayed by Ella Balinska. Jade was born around 2008 along with her twin sister Billie via IVF under mysterious circumstances. The two are brought up by Albert Wesker, a researcher and executive at The Umbrella Corporation, in a very controlled environment. As shown in the trailer, the story is mostly narrated through the eyes of Jade, in both the 2022 and 2036 timelines, as she recounts the events that unfolded during the spread of the T-virus. In 2022, Jade accompanies her father Albert and sister Billie to New Raccoon City, where Umbrella has set up its new HQ and is now trying to clear its name. However, we soon find out, as seen in the trailer, that the evil biotech corporation is up to no good, and is responsible for a massive virus outbreak that wipes out the majority of human life on the planet. Jade’s younger self is played by Tamara Smart.

Ella Balinska is an English actor best known for her work in the 2019 Charlie's Angels movie. Ahad Raza Mir plays Arj, who is husband to Jade Wesker in the 2036 storyline set in London. Arj and Jade have a kid and are trying to make things work even with the raging zombie apocalypse outside. He does his best to help Jade, who is haunted by the events of her past, functioning as the pillar of emotional support that she needs from time to time.

Lance Reddick as Albert Wesker

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Image via Netflix

Longtime Resident Evil followers might be very familiar with Albert Wesker, as one of the traitors and leading antagonists in several games. While in the games Wesker is shown as a badass researcher-turned-spy who gained superhuman powers due to a dose of a prototype virus, the Netflix version has yet to go through the procedure and has only been given back his old executive post at Umbrella in 2022. Lance Reddick plays Albert Wesker in the upcoming Resident Evil series and has been shown to have played some role in conceiving the twins, Billie and Jade, through genetic engineering. There’s also an indication that Wesker also contributed to the development of the t-Virus, which caused the zombie outbreak and reduced the human population to a fraction of what it used to be. However, his exact motivations are still kept under the wraps.

Adeline Rudolph as Billie Wesker

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Image via Netflix

Billie Wesker is Jade’s twin sister, born under yet-to-be-uncovered circumstances through IVF and raised by Albert Wesker. Billie is another new character developed for Netflix’s Resident Evil series, and plays an important role in the show’s storyline, serving as a source of motivation for her sister, Jade. Billie accompanies her father and sister to New Raccoon City and is played by Adeline Rudolph, whom you may recognize from her role as Agatha Night on Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The trailer indicates something happens to Billie during her stay at Umbrella Corporation, which pushes Jade over the edge into becoming the ruthless zombie killer we see in the clip. The younger version of Billie is portrayed by Siena Agudong.

Related:10 Underrated Zombie Movies of the 20th Century (and Where to Watch Them)

Paola Nuñez as Evelyn Marcus

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Image via Netflix

Paola Nuñez, who you may recognize from her roles in the shows The Purge, The Son, and the Magnum P.I. reboot, plays Evelyn Marcus. The CEO of Umbrella Corporation in 2022, Evelyn is the daughter of Dr. James Marcus, one of the founding board members of the famous evil organization. she is a ruthless businesswoman who puts the company’s profits over everything else and was featured alongside Albert Wesker in the Resident Evil trailer. She lives close to the Umbrella Corporation HQ in New Raccoon City with her wife and their son Simon. After inheriting control of Umbrella from her father, Evelyn sought to improve the image of the company by pushing away bioweapons development in favor of consumer products that still utilized the research from the t-Virus Project. By 2022, Umbrella's R&D department had developed Joy, an experimental drug containing the t-Virus to help with OCD and other mental health issues.

Connor Gosatti as Simon

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Image via Netflix

Simon is the son of Evelyn Marcus and her wife, who is about the same age as the twins Billie and Jade Wesker and lives in New Raccoon City with his parents. Portrayed by Connor Gosatti, Simon attends the same school as Billie and Jade, the Raccoon High School, and is a brilliant scholar and athlete. He seems to have been friends with Jade as seen in the trailer and is also a new character that has been written for the Netflix adaptation.