Resident Evil cancelled after one season on Netflix
The show received a mixed response from fans and critics.
Resident Evil has been cancelled after one season, joining a growing list of Netflix shows to have suffered the same fate.
The zombie drama was a reimagining of the popular franchise, which followed scientist Albert Wesker and his two daughters as they move to a new town developed by the sinister Umbrella Corporation.
Unconventionally, the series shared the same canon as the video games that inspired it, but this aspect of the show didn't come to the forefront until towards the end of the first season.
In the meantime, fans criticised the show for straying too far from the premise of the source material, which tends to focus on isolated breakouts of the T-Virus, as opposed to the complete global apocalypse seen in Netflix's version.
The Resident Evil ending teased the introduction of a popular character from the games, Ada Wong, but alas, it now seems that will never come to pass.
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Showrunner Andrew Dabb, who previously worked on fantasy series Supernatural, had previously discussed plans to incorporate further elements of the games in future seasons.
"The games are our backstory. Everything that happened in the games exists in this world," he told ComicBook.com. "So like, the village is there. We might not get there 'til season 5, but it is in our world. We can play with those... as we're now moving ahead."
It's another lesson in not saving your best material for a future entry that may or may not happen, which is a pitfall that much genre fare has fallen foul to in recent years.
Read more: Resident Evil review: Netflix adaptation likely a one-season wonder
Resident Evil joins the likes of Archive 81 and First Kill on the list of Netflix sci-fi offerings not to survive past their first season, much to the disappointment of fans.
The show performed reasonably well in its first week, with 72.7 million hours viewed in its first week, but quickly dropped down Netflix's ranking amid competition from Stranger Things and The Sandman.
The Resident Evil cast is led by Lance Reddick (John Wick) and Ella Balinska (Charlie's Angels), who play Albert Wesker and his tough-as-nails daughter, Jade.
Resident Evil is available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
