Resident Evil Movie Reveals Iconic Character Was Axed
It's been 25 years since we first opened the doors to the Spencer Mansion and explored the horrors within, so there's a sense of justice that we've gone back to this Hammer House of Horrors for Johannes Roberts' Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
While many will associate Resident Evil's big screen history with the Milla Jovovich-led franchise that ran from 2002 to 2016, Roberts is starting from scratch with a brand-new cast and promises to tell a story closer to Capcom's gaming series of the same name. With Welcome to Raccoon City covering a lot of ground, it turns out an iconic character from the games didn't make the cut.
Who Was Cut From The Resident Evil Reboot?
Speaking to ComicBook.com, Roberts confirmed the rampaging Mr. X was cut from his vision for Welcome to Raccoon City. "The one thing that I wanted to put in and I didn't, I just couldn't find a way to put in was Mr. X," said Roberts.
For those unfamiliar, Mr. X is a lumbering Umbrella monster known as the T-00 Tyrant. This unstoppable force is remembered stalking Leon S. Kennedy around the confines of the Raccoon City Police Department in 1998's Resident Evil 2. Although he's a major part of the game, the fact he interacts mainly with Leon might've made things difficult from a narrative perspective.
Still, the legacy of Mr. X is remembered by Roberts. "There is a nod," added the director. "It's tricky to see in the shot and I was like, 'Just use that shot,' but it doesn't work in the movie. And I was like, 'Okay,' with a movie you have to actually tell a proper movie rather than just use the shots that you want."
Could We See Mr X In Resident Evil Movies?
Although Mr. X is one of the primary antagonists in RE2, he doesn't appear in subsequent games. 1999's Resident Evil 3 does run alongside its predecessor in terms of timeline, but with the titular Nemesis being the big bad of that outing, there arguably wouldn't be room for it and Mr. X.
Roberts had the tough task of adapting the first game into one movie, with some saying he should've used the rich source material to tell one story at a time. Mashing two epic yarns into one means we have massive cast of Resi favourites that includes *deep breath* Jill Valentine, Chris and Claire Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy, Albert Wesker, Ada Wong, William Birkin, Chief Brian Irons, and more.
The first reviews are in, and while Resident Evil: Raccoon City hoped to outshine the movies that came before, it's a decidedly mixed bag. Roberts has teased that he'd like to keep making Resi movies - and possibly tackle Resident Evil 4 next, but unless this one pulls in the big bucks, the franchise could be dead and buried before the final credits roll.
