The first look at Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is here, and the fandom is already divided, with some claiming the movie is not a faithful adaptation of the Resident Evil games. While Cregger understands the backlash, he defended the new film, seemingly calling it a necessary creative decision. Unlike the previous movies, which followed the video game story or characters, Cregger’s film appears to shift away from the earlier adaptations and focus on a new story.

 While many video game fans are upset that several iconic game characters are not featured in the film, Cregger explained the reason behind his decision.

During his recent conversation with Curry Barker, he addressed the criticism from video game fans following the release of the first teaser for his Resident Evil film. He explained that many fans only want characters and storylines from the video games and are reluctant to accept something new. However, he had an important creative reason for choosing to follow a completely new story.

“But if I did that (following the same pattern) I don’t think I’d be creatively fulfilled, and I don’t even think they would enjoy it. If I just did the story of the games, I think the most diehard fans would be bummed.”

Cregger’s Resident Evil follows a medical courier named Bryan, who, during a routine delivery, is thrown into a brutal battle for survival after an unexpected outbreak. The film will not feature Leon S. Kennedy, who has previously appeared in more than 10 Resident Evil games as well as several film adaptations. Cregger, in his interview with Inverse, explained that since fans have already seen many adventures around the skilled Leon, he wanted to introduce a new character, Bryan’s story.

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To stay true to the game, the director revealed that he has not even watched the previous Resident Evil films.

As Zach Cregger shared, he is a huge fan of the games and has played those games for years. So, when it came to the previous Resident Evil films, the Weapons director said he could not watch them because they did not resemble the games. While he praised the movies, he also admitted that the horror and rules were not the same as in the game.

“I was such a fan of the games, and they just didn’t look like the games to me,” Cregger told press, as reported byPolygon. “Maybe they’re great. I have no idea. But I just wasn’t interested because what’s great about the games is they're shrunk down into this single perspective.”

Perhaps that is why his focus for Resident Evil was on the games. The movie is set to release on September 18, 2026. While there are several changes in the new Resident Evil film and plenty of criticism surrounding it, director Zach Cregger and his vision cannot be underestimated just yet.

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What do you think about Zach Cregger's opinion on his Resident Evil film and the fans' criticism around it? Let us know in the comments.