Fans Of Netflix's Resident Evil Just Got Terrible News
"Resident Evil" is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most popular gaming franchises in existence. Capcom's survival horror series is strong enough to have boasted a pile of cinematic adaptations, several highly acclaimed video games, and even a TV series on Netflix.
Though the film and television versions of "Resident Evil" have run the gamut from incredibly faithful to totally distanced, the adaptations have generally been able to find an audience. However, Netflix's second take on the series has been in trouble since it first emerged from the gate, with poor reviews from audiences and critics alike (via Rotten Tomatoes).
Simply titled "Resident Evil," the series follows fraternal twins Jade (Ella Balinska/Tamara Smart) and Billie Wesker (Siena Agudong/Adeline Rudolph) as they first encounter the sinister forces of the Umbrella Corporation in one timeline and later battle off the apocalyptic hordes of zombies created by it in another timeline. Though the series premiered to reasonable viewership numbers (via Variety), fans who flocked to the latest "Resident Evil" project have some bad news coming their way.
Resident Evil has been canceled after one season
Deadline has confirmed that the first season of "Resident Evil" will also be its last, as Netflix has officially canceled the series. Though the show received its fair share of criticism, particularly from fans of the source material, the series did feature an incredibly diverse cast with people of color filling in many key roles, including those of the leads. For that reason, the news that "Resident Evil" has been canceled is a bit discouraging, but with compelling new shows and diverse casting becoming more and more prevalent, hopefully, the cast will be able to find work elsewhere in the industry.
This is the second recent project in the action-horror franchise to underperform, with "Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City" also falling short of the earnings for the previous series of films (via Box Office Mojo). Still, this isn't the first time that "Resident Evil" has found itself floundering, so let's hope that there's still some life left in the franchise yet.