Resident Evil Trailer Raises Fresh Questions About Its Raccoon City Timeline
The teaser follows Austin Abrams' Bryan through a terrifying hospital delivery that appears to unfold alongside the events of Resident Evil 2.
A new trailer for Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie has given fans a closer look at its horror setup, but it has also raised questions about when the story takes place.
The teaser follows Austin Abrams’ Bryan as he begins another shift as a hospital delivery orderly. His routine quickly turns into a nightmare when he encounters undead creatures hiding throughout the city.
Paul Walter Hauser’s character warns Bryan that everything happening in the town has unfolded within a matter of hours. He also tells him that Bryan has no idea what he is carrying, pointing to the package at the center of the delivery.
The trailer eventually reveals Bryan’s destination: Raccoon City General. That location places the story close to the franchise’s most familiar disaster, though the movie’s exact connection to the established timeline remains unclear.
Cregger previously described the film as taking place on the periphery of Resident Evil 2, with its events happening in parallel to the chaos in Raccoon City. That earlier explanation was reported alongside a set visit and interview published by GamesRadar.
The problem is that Resident Evil 2 is set in 1998, while the trailer shows Bryan using a smartphone. That detail suggests the movie takes place in a modern setting rather than during the original Raccoon City outbreak.
Viewers have already pointed out the apparent mismatch. One fan asked whether the movie was supposed to take place in 1998 while reacting to the smartphone in a post on X. Another questioned the phone’s presence in a comment on the trailer’s YouTube upload.
I thought it took place in 1998 but I guess not
— xitter wanderer 🥷🏻 (@STL_KR8) July 23, 2026
The trailer leaves the movie’s timeline open for now. Bryan’s delivery could be a separate story occurring during the same outbreak, or the film may be reworking the setting and chronology for this new adaptation.
Resident Evil will hit theaters on September 18.
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