Resident Evil Reboot Powers Up as Zach Cregger Enlists Stars from Severance, True Detective, and Twisted Metal

Weapons director Zach Cregger is loading up his Resident Evil movie with some interesting new faces, and the vibe of this thing is getting clearer (and weirder) by the week.

The new signings

• Zach Cherry (Severance) is on board as a hospital scientist.
• Kali Reis (True Detective) will play a military veteran.
• Johnno Wilson (Twisted Metal) has joined too, though his role is still under wraps.

They join Austin Abrams, who is reportedly leading the cast in a still-secret starring role. That tracks. Abrams popped in Cregger's Weapons as James, an unhoused delinquent who basically stole every scene he was in and cut through that movie's tension with the only real comic relief. If you saw it, you get why Cregger would bring him back.

What this Resident Evil actually is

Per THR, the setup sounds like pulpy chaos in the best way: a hapless courier, a mysterious package, mutated creatures, and the inevitable corporate conspiracy. Classic Resident Evil ingredients, but Cregger has been very clear about the recipe: this is an all-new story with all-new characters. So no Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, or Jill Valentine walking through that door. He also called the movie 'very Zach' — which, if you know his work, probably means a nerve-jangling horror ride spiked with dark, uncomfortable laughs.

'I'm not gonna steal Leon and put him in an original story. I think that would be presumptuous,' Cregger said previously. 'But I respect the games enough where I'm gonna like tell a Resident Evil story in the Resident Evil canon that still leaves everything they love intact from the games, you know what I mean?'

Translation: he is playing in the Resident Evil sandbox without kicking over the existing castles. Inside baseball, but fans will appreciate the line he is trying to walk here.

Release date

Resident Evil hits theaters September 18, 2026.