Why Leon Kennedy is not the hero of the new Resident Evil
Director Zach Cregger justifies himself to fans and explains that he wanted a surviving hero who was “not a tough guy with combat experience like Leon…”
The first teaser of the new resident Evil divided fans. Little reference to the games and no Leon S. Kennedy on the horizon!
A choice assumed by director Zach Cregger, who explains that he wants to take the complete opposite approach to video games. In a message posted on Reddit, he details his vision, and it is clear:
“I wanted this movie to be about what would happen if an idiot like me was thrust into the world of a Resident Evil game. So Austin doesn’t play a tough guy with combat experience like Leon, but just a normal guy. And that makes his journey through this hell much more interesting to me than that of someone who is psychologically prepared.”
In other words: exit the ultra-competent hero, make way for a vulnerable character.
The film, which takes place in parallel with the events of Resident Evil 2will however take up many emblematic elements of the games: progression from one location to another, increasing power, improving equipment… but with a different look. In an interview with the PlayStation Blog, Cregger gives another layer and justifies Leon’s absence again:
“I wanted to make a movie that follows a character from point A to point B, because that’s what games do so well. We go on a completely crazy journey, we go through very different environments, and everything continues to increase in intensity. It’s very cinematic. But I wanted to tell a story that could exist in the Resident Evil universe, without repeating a story already told by the games.”
And he goes further:
“For me, adapting Leon’s story would be a dead end: the games already do it perfectly. This would be redundant and ultimately disappointing. I prefer to celebrate what I love about games by telling a story that takes place outside of their events.”
The film will therefore follow a new character, a courier played by Austin Abrams, trapped in a nightmarish city where he will have to survive at all costs. Also in the cast: Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Johnno Wilson.
This new resident Evil will be released in cinemas in France on September 16.
