Making Sense of the Resident Evil Movies Timeline – What‘s Canon to the Iconic Games?

As a huge Resident Evil superfan, I‘ve lost count of how many times friends have asked me "Wait, so which movies actually fit into the games‘ storyline?" – and I can‘t blame them for being confused!

The Resident Evil film franchise is a tangled web indeed when it comes to deciphering what is and isn‘t canon. With some movies featuring iconic characters from the seminal Capcom games, while others forge their own separate continuity, it can be tricky to pin down for sure.

Well after obsessing over Resi lore for most of my life, I‘m here to finally make sense of it all for you! Below I‘ve compiled the definitive guide to canon in the Resident Evil movie universe. Follow me as we take a trip through Raccoon City and beyond!

The Live Action Movies – Fun But Not Faithful To The Games

Kicking off in 2002, the massively successful Resident Evil movie franchise brought the series from cult video game status into the Hollywood blockbuster big leagues. However despite borrowing key characters and themes, the central storyline focused on original super-soldier Alice, played by Milla Jovovich, is 100% non-canon.

Paul W.S Anderson‘s initial concept for Alice was that she represented an amalgam of the games‘ female leads – the strength of Jill Valentine combined with Claire Redfield‘s spirit and Ada Wong‘s mystique. An inspired move perhaps, but it ultimately took the movies‘ continuity in a unique direction separate from established events in the games.

The live action Resident Evil timeline undoubtedly captivated worldwide audiences, raking in over $1.2 billion at the box office over 6 smash hit films! However amongst devoted fans, many felt the spectacle-driven movies lost touch with survival horror atmosphere that made the games so iconic.

The bombastic live action Resident Evil movies thrilled audiences but did not stay faithful to the games © Sony Pictures / Constantin Films

Sony Pictures must have felt the same, rebooting the franchise in 2021 with a back-to-basics adaptation that returned core characters like Leon S. Kennedy, Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield to the forefront.

Rebooting To Capture The Horror Of The Games

Directed by horror aficionado Johannes Roberts, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City aimed to directly bring iconic moments from the earliest Resident Evil games to life – namely the mansion incident and Raccoon City outbreak.

Roberts has been vocal about this goal, saying:

"We really wanted to go back to the games and create a movie that was much more in the world of survival horror. I pitched them a movie which was going to be an origins story based on the first two games."

The movie nails Reisdent Evil‘s grim, tense atmosphere – dank sewers, shadowy hallways and blood smeared walls encapsulate that vintage 1996 vibe. Not to mention dripping creature designs straight from your nightmares!

However despite critical acclaim from game fans, mainstream audiences didn‘t flock to theaters. With a $25.3 million box office take, Welcome to Raccoon City fell well short of past Resident Evil movie earnings.

The lukewarm response has likely ended this incarnation of a back-to-the-games adaptation. And according to executives, while it takes major inspiration from fan favorite story beats, Welcome to Raccoon City still does not count as official canon due to differing continuity:

“Everything that happened in the games exists in this world. But we’re not specifically trying to say, ‘This is a canon,’ because then you’re stuck within existing continuity.”

Oh so close, yet so far! But don‘t fret, true believers – the games‘ iconic storylines have indeed received faithful movie adaptations into canon…just not with real people!

The Animated Wonders – CGI Films 100% In Continuity

As a Resident Evil lore enthusiast, the animated CGI movies tie my heartstrings directly back to core events from the classic games. Not only do they feature prominent protagonists like Leon S. Kennedy as the lead characters, the CGI film storylines neatly fill crucial gaps within the overarching game canon!

Developed by the masterminds over at Capcom in collaboration with animation legends at Sony Pictures, these CGI gems beautifully bring iconic characters like series mainstay Leon to life in vivid detail.

Seeing Claire and Leon teamed up once again in Degeneration took me right back to fateful days escaping Racoon City. And Vendetta’s badass pairing of agent Leon with BSAA Captain Chris Redfield against the Neo-Umbrella menace was a dynamic duo 25 years in the making!

Special agent Leon S. Kennedy as he appears in the CGI movie Resident Evil: Vendetta © Sony Pictures / Capcom

Best of all, events within the CGI films are directly referenced in later games – cementing their status as crucial canon connector pieces!

For instance, Leon‘s mission in Resident Evil: Vendetta seeing him prevent a viral attack in New York City by Glenn Arias is explicitly mentioned in notes found later during Resident Evil 8: Village. Proof positive of a shared continuity between CGI movies and core games!

Ultimately while the live action franchise offers spectacular scares, in my mind only the sublime CGI movie trilogy can claim the title of 100% unquestionably canon when it comes to the games’ sprawling mythology.

Does Resident Evil 7 Fit Into The Puzzle?

After the overblown globe-trotting action spectacle of Resident Evil 5 and 6 left some fans cold, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard marked a bold back-to-horror roots return for the seminal franchise in 2017.

Trading high octane set pieces for a focus on slow building tension, this soft reboot followed newcomer Ethan Winters as he searched for his missing wife at a foreboding plantation mansion. RE7 employed a chilling first-person perspective and kept direct series connections subtle. Does this cleaner break mean RE7 sits outside canon?

Resident Evil 7 employed first-person view and a standalone story – but had some minor Umbrella ties © Capcom

On first glance, RE7’s focus on the freakish Baker family with few mentions of bioterrorism looks detached from wider events post RE6. However eagle-eyed fans spotted that telltale Umbrella logo infiltrating some lab equipment!

Digging deeper into 7’s files also reveals Lucas Baker possessed a thorough database detailing prior series viral outbreaks and BOWs – proving awareness of the wider Resi universe.

Interviews from producers after release directly confirm RE7 does occur following previous titles, with director Koshi Nakanishi stating:

“We want to regain fans trust by going back to the series’ roots. We consider this title connects the entire series together when you finish the game and know about the truth.”

So while Umbrella’s spectre still looms in the shadows, RE7 generally lays clues to a shared history rather than directly driving overarching franchise lore forward. Its detachment buys breathing room for fresh scares that reinvigorated survival horror mastery!

Tying The Bloody Canon Threads Together

Tracing a path through Raccoon’s devastation and global bioterrorism, the Resident Evil franchise has kept fans spellbound through almost 30 years of viral nightmares across multiple continuities.

Attempting to clarify what counts as canon among 25 years worth of games, movies, novels and more is a realm perhaps even the infamous Umbrella Corporation would struggle to bio-engineer complete sense from!

However the key anchors holding the creeping canon chaos at bay are those three central CGI movies directly bridging crucial gaps in the games’ sprawling mythology – beautifully animated tales 100% in-continuity.

My verdict – stick to the CGI film trilogy as gospel, enjoy both eras of live action frights as spectacular sidequests, then rest easy knowing RE7 keeps bonding canon! Now if you’ll excuse me, time to load my trusty Samurai Edge – gotta blast through another chronological playthrough before RE4 remake drops!