WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil biohazard.
So, you beat Resident Evil Village. You beat Mother Miranda and watched Ethan Winters sacrifice himself to save his daughter, Rose. Unlike other Resident Evil games, Village ends with a time jump, which means two things: 1.) There’s a whole story being set up years after Village.
And 2.) There’s likely at least a decade of stories to be told in the Resident Evil universe between the ending and the time jump. That’s a lot of time, and there are lots of characters that could fill that time with interesting stories of their own. So, let’s get right into it: what does the future of Resident Evil possibly look like?
The Father’s Story is Now Done…?
Alright, Ethan’s probably really dead. But at the time of writing this, you can use Village’s Photo Mode to zoom out in the last cutscene to see that the figure that stops the car is Ethan’s model. It’s identical to how it looks in the main game, which would suggest no time has passed for him, so my assumption is that it’s a placeholder model. Still, what a model to use. It’s possible that Ethan, being a mold-man, is still alive, and if he is, he’s probably looking to help his daughter with whatever situation she’s found herself in as a potential living weapon.
The Father’s Story IS Now Done
If Ethan is dead, which is likely, we’ll probably get a game that involves Rose in a major role. As the child of a human and a mold man, she apparently has immense powers. Powers that require a sniper to be ready to take her out at any time, according to the ending. I can see Rose and an older Chris being the protagonists of a future Resident Evil, with a tutorial that deals with the “situation” that is mentioned in the ending.
She could use her unseen powers to fight against the next big enemy, while Chris supports her with his overpowered guns and muscles. It’s hard to speculate on what Rose’s story could be, as it’s wide open to any possibilities given its placement in the timeline. One thing is for sure though: we haven’t seen the last of Rose Winters.
On the BSAA
We find out at the end of the game that the BSAA, or the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, is using mutated soldiers, which doesn’t seem super ethical or legal. Is it possible that the BSAA are becoming the bad guys? Without Umbrella or Tricell or Connections around to cook up some new bioweapons, it seems like things may be going in that direction.
According to a letter from the BSAA to Chris, included as part of the Trauma Pack DLC, the BSAA isn’t especially thrilled about how critical Chris has been since the Baker incident. They mention that Chris has taken personal control of his Hound Wolf Squad, which means Chris likely no longer trusts the organization. I think they could be the next big-bads that make a monster in Resident Evil 9, where the main enemy will be their zombie soldiers.
That Boulder-Punching Asshole
Chris plays a major role in Village, so it makes sense that he would be a big part of the sequel. Granted, we know he doesn’t die since Rose speaks of him in the present tense, but I doubt they’d ever kill Chris anyways. I think Chris’s story will build on my previous point about the BSAA getting shady, as he feels even more of a responsibility to stop bioweapons from claiming any more lives following Ethan’s sacrifice.
Plus, as one of the BSAA’s Original Eleven, Chris may feel the need to take down his now-corrupt organization. Either way, it definitely feels like Chris will be the main protagonist in any follow-up DLC or in the next game, should it carry on the narrative of Village. The fanboy in me wants him to call up Jill to take down the BSAA, as Jill and Barry were part of the BSAA alongside Chris. Whether or not the Master of Unlocking will show up is certainly unknown, but a guy can hope.
Start of Zoe
The Trauma Pack DLC says that Zoe Baker is trying to find Ethan, Mia, and Rose, but that the BSAA largely blocked her search once she found out they were in Europe. Zoe knows about the BSAA’s warning to Chris, and she knows that Ethan and Mia have a child. As a rookie journalist, Zoe could be the one to shed light on the BSAA in the next game, perhaps alongside Chris and anyone else he calls on to help out.
Whether they team up or not, I could see Zoe being an important character in some way in Resident Evil 9. I think Capcom could still do a lot with Zoe, and the determined tone that her writing has in the Trauma Pack tells me that they may not be done with her yet.
End of Ada
For those who aren’t aware, Resident Evil alumni Ada Wong was originally planned to be in Village. She was cut later on in development due to a “number of conflicting scenarios,” but she was meant to be disguised in a plague doctor outfit. While I think the story stands fine on its own, I’m always down for great characters like Ada to return, and I know many other fans feel the same.
I could definitely see a DLC pack that reinstates Ada into the story, possibly doing reconnaissance on the village prior to Ethan’s arrival at the beginning of the game. I don’t think she would fit into the story as-is, so her appearance would either have to have her investigating the village for a probably shady organization, or cleaning up any remnants in the crater that was the village after the main game. Either way, I’d love to see more Ada, and DLC is the perfect way to make that happen.
Mia’s Responsibility
Long shot here, but maybe the next game will have Mia do some form of repentance for essentially being a bioterrorist in the past– especially since her child may be a bioweapon herself. Unlikely, but it certainly is weird that this never really came up again.
And those are my predictions for where a future Resident Evil game could go. What are your thoughts on the future of Resident Evil? Leave a comment below, and check out our review of Resident Evil Village.
