Small Details Only True Fans Noticed In Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City Trailer
Gamers will finally get another chance to see the frights of "Resident Evil" return to the big screen in "Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City" when it releases on Nov. 24, 2021. Fans were worried about the reboot after the official "Resident Evil" Twitter account first shared pictures of the Spencer Mansion set, but the new trailer shows that "Welcome to Raccoon City" has more promise than many initially thought.
Sony released the trailer on Oct. 7, surprising gamers with a little mid-week zombie mayhem. For the most part, fans seemed excited for the new film, with several commenters noting the number of callbacks and fan service moments on display. Considering the fact that the previous "Resident Evil" movies got a lot of the games' details wrong, angering fans in the process, it's refreshing to see the film franchise get a new start with game-based details. That being said, the trailer for "Welcome to Raccoon City" featured more than a few details that only true fans would notice.
Welcome to Raccoon City recreates the intro to Resident Evil 2
Blink and you might miss an a reference to the iconic opening scene from "Resident Evil 2" and its remake, almost seamlessly recreated for "Welcome to Raccoon City."
Things start innocently enough, with a truck driver calmly driving down the highway, listening to a radio program. Then, after hearing an ominous comment about monsters on the radio, the driver encounters a corpse on the road. Things don't go so well for the driver, as the body begins to rise behind him, presumably to attack. Later, the driver returns, fully overtaken by whatever affliction is affecting the city, driving his semi straight into Leon and Claire. The original "Resident Evil 2" also features a truck driver who gets attacked by infected people and chases after Leon and Claire, but the scene is structured a bit differently.
The trailer for "Welcome to Raccoon City" shows a driver that looks extremely similar to the one in "Resident Evil 2: Remake," sporting the same well-groomed beard and hat. In the trailer, the driver's eyes are completely black, with dark veins creeping along the edges of his face. While the short sequence doesn't show him chasing Claire or Leon, viewers do get to see his semi overturn, crashing right in front of the Raccoon City Police Department.
Remember the first zombie in Resident Evil?
Fans who have played the original "Resident Evil" or its remake will no doubt remember the bone-chilling experience of stumbling across the game's very first zombie. Well, "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" wants you to feel that same sense of terror when you watch it on the big screen. The movie trailer shows a scene with a zombie in a lab coat that's in the exact same position as the first zombie you meet in the original "Resident Evil."
For any fans who may have forgotten, that zombie was feasting on human flesh on the floor, its back turned to the camera — until it decided to slowly turn its head. This creepy moment is recreated in the new trailer, showing a zombie in a lab coat suddenly turning to look glare directly at the camera and snarl.
The gory makeup effects almost make the movie version creepier than the original or remake's undead, and even the most jaded fans of the games might find themselves a bit freaked out, in the best way possible.
Itchy. Tasty.
Another terrifying detail from the first "Resident Evil" game made its way into the trailer for "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City." However, instead of recreating a specific character, monster, or scene, all this reference needed was two words: "itchy" and "tasy."
The words can be seen in the trailer written on a glass panel in blood. This is a reference to a journal that players discovered back in the original "Resident Evil" game. The journal, which belongs to someone identified as "The Keeper." The harrowing diary told the tale of someone's descent into becoming a zombie. The last haunting entry simply read "Itchy. Tasty." The Keeper was trapped on the experiment grounds after their zombie symptoms started.
The two words became iconic for the series, to the point where the official "Resident Evil" Twitter account actually tweeted the words in August 2021 to get fans hyped. It worked out, as the simple phrase earned over 20,000 likes.
William Birkin signed the dossier for Lisa Trevor
The trailer for "Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City" uses iconic locations like the Spencer Mansion and Police Station to demonstrate that the film will pull elements from both "Resident Evil" and "Resident Evil 2" to tell its story. However, fans who pay close attention to details elsewhere can also understand which famous characters may have masterminded the movie's events.
As Claire Redfield gets closer to discovering the horrors that the Umbrella Corporation has brought to Racoon City, viewers can see evidence of the experiments that have led to the outbreak. At one point, a dossier appears on screen, and fans who look closely will notice two critical names.
Printed at the top of the file is Lisa Trevor, whose story was featured heavily in the remake of the first "Resident Evil" game. A tragic figure who was experimented on and used to create the G-Virus, she's easily one of the scariest "Resident Evil" villains. It's also worth noting that a clue at the bottom of the dossier may reveal that her movie origin story will match that of the games.
The signature on the file reads "W. Birkin," which "Resident Evil" fans know can stand for only one man: Dr. William Birkin. According to Deadline, Birkin will be played by Neal McDonough, and if fans back up the trailer a couple of frames, they will see him as the evil virologist who not only experimented on Lisa, but also kicked off the horrific events of "Resident Evil 2."
U.S.S. is on the scene, possibly with HUNK
The opening moments of the "Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City" trailer waste no time in letting fans know that things are not going well under the Umbrella Corporation's watch. An early moment in the trailer highlights members of the Umbrella Security Service, or U.S.S., patrolling a locked-down Raccoon City.
While menacing images of soldiers hiding behind a machine gun is significant, one shot stands out amongst the rest. While it can be tough to match up possible characters without more context, a soldier wearing a gas mask has a definitely resemblance to HUNK.
HUNK is the codename of an Umbrella Operative also known as "Mr. Death," due to his seeming ability to survive every major Umbrella-related disaster. His exploits may not always be canonical to the games, but he's a popular character among fans — and quite a deep-cut reference for this movie.
Again, it's hard to confirm that the gas-masked individual is actually the legendary U.S.S. operative, but it could provide a possible set-up for future films. HUNK was, after all, the character who extracted samples of the G-Virus and the t-virus after an encounter with Dr. Birkin.