Netflix’s action-horror series Resident Evil, which is partially based on the well-known video game property, will not be getting a second season. The announcement, which was announced on July 14, a month and a half after the show premiered is not entirely unexpected given that the drama did not perform particularly well in Netflix’s Top 10 and that cost vs. viewing is the streamer’s primary renewal criterion.
The show debuted a little more than a month ago, and while it got off to a decent start, debuting at #2 on Netflix’s most-watched list, it failed to hold viewers’ attention long enough for them to binge or watch additional episodes. The series has a 22% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and its user rating on Metacritic reflects even harsher criticism from fans. Both fan and general audience reactions were overwhelmingly negative.
Resident Evil’s intriguing, varied cast was put together by Netflix, and future collaborations with them are desired. With one of the actors, Paola Nez, who will be seen in both the upcoming Netflix series Fall of the House of Usher and the Latin American movie Fuga De Reinas, the streamer has already begun to do this. Resident Evil won’t be renewed, but Netflix has other successful genre shows like The Witcher, The Umbrella Academy, Vikings: Valhalla, Black Mirror, and newest addition The Sandman, etc.
This isn’t the first time the Resident Evil video games have been adapted into other forms of media. Milla Jovovich starred in a six-part film series that didn’t exactly receive the best reviews, and last year, Screen Gems released the feature film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which was directed by Johannes Rober and starred Kaya Scodelario , Robbie Amell and Hannah John-Kamen. The Resident Evil franchise on Netflix will continue beyond this, though. In the early 2000s, Claire and Leon battle to fend off hordes of zombies in the anime series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, which debuted in 2021. The future of the animated series has not yet been mentioned by Netflix.