Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil (2026) Drops a Teaser

The trailer for Resident Evil (2026) is now out, and it wastes no time making one thing clear: Zach Cregger is taking the franchise in a far darker, more serious direction. This isn’t another action-heavy remix or a greatest-hits run through the games. What the trailer shows is survival horror stripped back to fear and isolation. And, lets face it, Fans of the video game series are going to be very disappointed.

Austin Abrams stars as Bryan, a medical courier caught in Raccoon City as everything goes wrong. The trailer opens quietly with an empty house and  a fractured phone call. There is snow falling on a deserted streets (as I said... this is about as afar from the video games as you can get...snow in Raccoon City?) before sliding into panic as Bryan is forced to arm himself and run. He’s not confident, not skilled, and definitely not in control. That sense of vulnerability is pallatabel, especially in the way the trailer lingers on hesitation and dread rather than big action beats.

Tonally, this is a sharp break from the camp of earlier Resident Evil films. The horror here is bleak and grounded, with a slow-build tension that recalls Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017). Cregger has confirmed the story runs parallel to the events of Resident Evil 2 (1998), following another survivor elsewhere in the city while Leon Kennedy and others face their own nightmare off-screen. The trailer supports that idea with subtle visual nods rather than overt fan service, including familiar healing items and environmental details pulled straight from the games. However, we are NOT seeing your typical RE MOBS.

One of the most disturbing images teased is a grotesque figure lurking in the sewers, shown just enough to unsettle without explanation. It’s clear this isn’t meant to be a traditional zombie threat, but something more personal and unpredictable, reinforcing the idea that this film is about surviving the environment as much as the creatures within it. But what creature is this? Maybe the blob monster from Resident Evil Requiem? I sure hope so. If Cregger's is just making up his own creatures to haunt the streets (he has made up the main character after all), why even bother calling it Resident Evil.

Don't get me wrong, this will probabbly be a great film.. but is it a Resident Evil film? Time will tell.

Set for release on 18th September 2026, Resident Evil (2026) looks poised to push Raccoon City into a differnet direction

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