One of the most beautiful things about Capcom’s Resident Evil series is that each and every part of it matters. Each new entry builds on the last and expands the depth of depravity of Umbrella and its macabre desire to conquer the world. No detail, no matter how incidental, gets discarded, no character insignificant. All of it. This also makes it one of the messiest series of all time to keep track of. Luckily, Capcom knows the fans love the mess and build upon its most iconic characters in addition to creating new ones.
The first trailer we saw for Resident Evil Requiem, aka Resident Evil 9, the 26th game in the series, not including remakes, introduced us to Grace Ashcroft. She’s the game’s protagonist, yes, but is also a legacy character. Turns out she’s the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, a character from Resident Evil Outbreak from 2004. The new trailer, released during the 2025 Game Awards, let us know fan-favorite badass Leon S. Kennedy would be the second player character. This excites us. Check out the trailer.
The game takes place roughly 30 years after the fall of Raccoon City, which means Leon is in his mid-50s. Lookin’ pretty good. The game will evidently alternate between Grace’s sections, focusing on scares and exploration, and Leon’s, which will be more about combat. You can’t expect the absolute badass that is Mr. Kennedy to experience terror.
Leon was not the first hero of the Resident Evil series, but in many ways, he’s the default one. As the co-lead of Resident Evil 2, the full-on star of Resident Evil 4, and one of the many in Resident Evil 6, he’s had arguably the longest and most fulfilling arc of the main characters. He also has major recent clout, with both 2 and 4 receiving mega successful remakes in the past few years. We also have precedent for this kind of thing. Chris Redfield appeared in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and had a larger presence in Resident Evil Village, even getting a playable section. While we’re looking forward to meeting Grace and seeing her story, we’ll always welcome a chance to spend time with our favorite rookie-turned-grizzled vet.
Resident Evil Requiem launches February 27, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, Steam, and Epic Games Store.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.