New Resident Evil Movie Is Finally Bringing Back Jill Valentine
With 27 years of mainline games, spin-offs, live-action movies, and animated outings, keeping track of who's who and what's what in the Resident Evil franchise is more confusing than an episode of Lost.
There are plenty of characters that the franchise has forgotten, but away from Carlos Oliveira, Sheva Alomar, and Jake Muller, Capcom has really done Jill Valentine dirty. Now, the fan favourite is back in an unlikely way.
Jill Valentine Returns For New Resident Evil Movie
While the live-action, Milla Jovovich-led, Resident Evil movies and 2021's Welcome to Raccoon City largely failed to capture the spirit of the games, the CGI offerings have fared much better.
In particular, 2008's Resident Evil: Degeneration and 2012's Resident Evil: Damnation are the only movies to earn a "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While 2017's Vendetta was another "Rotten" outing, we're getting a sequel from Resident Evil: Death Island.
It's all pretty standard Resiverse stuff, with the Umbrella Corporation's twisted monsters continuing to wreak havoc around the globe. Back for more are series staples Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield, but the big one here is that we finally get to see more of Jill Valentine.
Eiichiro Hasumi's movie follows Leon as he tries to rescue Dr. Antonio Taylor from kidnappers. Chris investigates a zombie outbreak in San Francisco, where the victims are somehow connected to an Alcatraz Island facility. As for Jill, we get a blink-and-you'll-miss-it clip of her on a firing range.
Importantly, this will be the first time we get Leon and Jill in the same room. Despite both being there during the Raccoon City incident, the fact Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 run concurrently with each other means the dynamic duo have never met.
Given that Vendetta was set between the events of Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil 7, Death Island will presumably take place in this gap and give a new furthest point on the timeline for Leon and Rebecca Chambers - who is also teased via a coffee cup.
Will Jill Valentine Return To The Resident Evil Games?
Despite Jill's popularity, neither Sienna Guillory nor Hannah John-Kamen has really done her justice in live-action. As Jill hasn't appeared in animated movies before, we don't know who will be voicing her this time around. Still, we'll take as much Jill as you've got.
Resi fans are over the moon that Jill is back in action. We last saw her canonically during the events of Resident Evil 5. She missed out on the character overload of Resident Evil 6, and while that might be for the best, everyone has been asking what she's been up to.
It's interesting that our sneak peek at Jill shows her in her RE3 outfit, suggesting her appearance might be as a flashback to set up her modern-day arrival. The Death Island synopsis says Leon is hindered by a "mysterious woman," so could this be Jill?
There was a big rumour that Jill will have a big part to play in RE9, but with sources sketchier than Ada Wong, we don't know what to believe. Either way, It's about time we saw more of the S.T.A.R.S. stalwart.
