Is Resident Evil Joining Netflix With a New Live-Action Series?

So, let me start off with the warning that there is should be a giant grain of salt taken with this train of thought, but I'm intrigued never the less and thought you might be as well. Earlier this weekend I was cruising the trending topics, and Resident Evil cropped up, and oddly enough it wasn't because of the latest game release. There were a few forum boards and blog sites that were talking about how Netflix and Resident Evil were planning to create their own zombie series based on the original game series.

Resident Evil has been one of the longest lasting horror/survival games on the market for over 20 years now. The series first made an appearance in 1996 and is credited with defining the survival #horror genre, spawning the massive multimedia franchise of films, comics, novels and other #games. Throughout the span of the video games, several have received positive acclaim and even garnering #GameoftheYear honors.

The games tended to follow a main plot line built around a group of survivors who battle against the Umbrella Corporation and the fallout from the development of the T-virus which could transform humans into zombies, and mutate other creatures into horrifying monsters. After Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the games shifted from the T-virus to the Las Plagas parasite, to the C-Virus to being "the molded" - yet through it all, the game has always been a survival horror with zombie-like creatures.

So, considering how well other zombie-based shoes have fared over the years, it's surprising that Capcom hasn't already looked into developing the franchise into an episodic series. For several years now we've seen shows like:

• Z-Nation (2014 - Present)
• The Walking Dead (2010 - Present)
• iZombie (2015 - Present)
• In the Flesh (2013-2014)

Resident Evil could definitely survive on Netflix when you consider that the zombie genre has really only just recently begun to be explored, and here's how.

Pick the Right Story Line

To bring Resident Evil. properly to the streaming screen, requires some specificity rather than basing the series loosely on the material as we saw in the feature films. If Netflix truly is bringing Resident Evil into their collection of growing series' then starting at the beginning would be ideal.

Incorporating a mixture of the original game, Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero would serve to create the best origin story for a Netflix series as that would give the general horror fan enough insight into what the series is about without having to have played the video games.

Introducing the story before the events of Racoon City could be a very entertaining series, similar to what Fear The Walking Dead has been doing after the success of The Walking Dead. Seeing everything that led up to the events of the T-Virus outbreak could make for a very engaging series.

Cast the Characters to Match the Game

The casting of a series like this is always difficult, just think about everything that went into bringing Game of Thrones to life; getting the characters just right has always been the most treacherous part of developing any series based on a popular game or book series. So, getting the casting right for a series like Resident Evil, which countless gaming sites have described as one of the best franchises of all.

Bringing the story of Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero would make the casting a bit easier, considering that between both games are a collection of characters from within S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) which is the special forces team within the Racoon City Police Department.

Any Resident Evil series would definitely want to stick with the characters that the gaming fans would recognize to give the entire arc some cohesion overall. In the original games, players met characters like Billy Coen, Albert Weskers, Rebecca Chambers, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. Each of these characters would be important to the longevity of the series.

Whether the news is true or not about Resident Evil genuinely getting a new original series based on the video games, it's an incredibly interesting idea.